Not Quite Myths
by Falia7
Summary: Wherein Sawada Tsunayoshi is a mythological creature magnet, and it doesn't seem to matter much where those creatures come from. (It starts with the unicorn, and things just get worse from there. The Mafia won't know what hit it.)
1. Unicorn

Ahem. Do not own KHR. That and this part is already in 'Pieces', specifically chapter nine. I'll give you more soon.

 ** _Unicorn  
_** _Unicorns are long-known mythological creatures, found in everything from northern European to Indus Valley legends. The descriptions vary, but the most commonly accepted one from Greek and Roman mythos is that of a horse with a single horn, usually depicted as white in art. The most common beliefs held today (aside from it being a mythological magical equine that doesn't exist) is that it is a single-horned magical horse attracted to virgins and capable of healing. These basic beliefs are mentioned in Roman art and stories, though unicorns are also supposed to be symbolic of pure, chaste, and/or marital love as well as strength and inability to be conquered or tamed. (Check up on why the Scots love the unicorn so much as a symbol—I assure you it has nothing to do with being 'attracted to virgins'.) Also, considering the link to Rome, this one seemed as good a place as any to start._

 _xxxx_

It all started with one of Reborn's ridiculous ideas of a training trip, specifically when he dropped Tsuna and his Reborn-student senpai Dino on the Japanese version of the Vongola's Death Mountain.

Exasperation at Dino's utter _uselessness_ without his men aside, Tsuna found himself oddly unconcerned. He'd never been out in nature like this—well, 'nature' being a relative term, as Reborn had littered the area with traps and non-native (and some supposedly non- _existent_ ) creatures. When the giant scorpions showed up, he was irritated and mildly disgusted, but not particularly worried.

They scuttled around, but gave Tsuna wide berth and when he glared and snapped "Hey!" as they headed for Dino, they decided to leave the Cavallone Don alone, too.

That left Dino blinking at him in something like shock, but the even larger spiders that showed up right afterwards stopped any questions.

Those brought a sense of unease as well as disgust, and Tsuna kicked a half-meter arachnid away from him and wished the ones with the stinging tails* were back. There were too many of the spiders, and they were leaving trails of thin-but-strong silk of varying levels of stickiness that had him stumbling and Dino stuck to the ground the first time he fell.

Tsuna snarled, but didn't have much chance against the swarm and while he was sure that Reborn was somewhere nearby, he couldn't tell _where_. He felt several bite him, and stumbled to his knees.

Then there was a trumpeting bellow, a cross between an elk's bugle and a horse's neigh, and something large and white thundered into the clearing, crushing oversized spiders under flashing hooves and stabbing at them with a glowing, pearlescent horn.

His first thought was that unicorns were shaped more like deer than anything. His second was to wonder who the hell thought they were quiet, gentle creatures, because even he knew that horses were dangerous by size alone. Deer, goats, cattle—anything with horns or antlers—had head-weapons that were less for attack than defense. Generally sweeping out to the sides to cover more area and block attacks while sometimes inflicting damage in return was one thing. That single straight horn in the center of the creature's forehead was something else entirely.

There was no reason for such a horn but to _attack_.

Unicorns were very obviously, he thought as the pale shape of grace and fury speared a leaping spider straight through, _not_ passive creatures.

They might be vegetarian, but they were certainly not passive _._ Fierce, wild, and _unrelenting_ seemed more accurate.

Those few spiders that remained scattered, and the unicorn snorted sharply, snapping its head to the side to make the impaled arachnid fly off its horn. It was a beautiful creature, milky-light hide shimmering and delicate deer-form accented by eyes of a deep, deep shine. They whirled through shades of green-flecked brown like leaves and earth and wild things, and its horn was nearly a meter long, translucent silver and lit from within.

A flare of _something_ , and the horn was clean, the smear of spider-blood burned away, and the unicorn moved over to him, its hooves making no sound despite the thunder of warning they'd given moments before. It— _she_ —dropped her head to nuzzle Tsuna gently, lipping at a bite on his shoulder before stamping a bell-sound and backing up to lower her horn.

Tsuna did not move, dizzy and feeling weirdly unthreatened, and Dino cried out in alarm as the spiral horn touched Tsuna's chest, right over his heart.

He didn't feel any of Dino's worry even when she pushed forward sharply, her horn sliding into his chest without causing pain. He heard the crack of a gunshot (Leon, he was sure) and there was a flare of light and a sharp ping as the bullet was deflected away.

He gasped when a pulse of heat swept through him, and then something inside him was _splintering,_ breaking, shattering apart. The flare of agony came sharp and unexpected, and he managed a single, ragged cry before another pulse of heat drove it away, then the unicorn stepped back, the horn-tip which had been the only thing holding him semi-upright tugging out of his heart.

He crumpled forward, barely conscious, and he heard a shout that sounded like Reborn mingling with Dino's.

The unicorn vanished in a flicker of white, and Tsuna gave in and passed out.

 _xxxx_

Reborn was a bit taken aback when a _unicorn_ tore into the clearing in a blur of flashing hooves and horn, crushing and kicking and spearing spiders left and right. When the still-living spiders fled, the supposedly mythological creature turned its attention on Tsuna.

He shifted his aim with sniper-rifle-Leon, sighting on the apparently _not_ -myth animal, but when it only nosed at his student curiously before stepping back, he let his guard down.

That was a mistake. Within the moment it took to re-aim, the beast had lowered its head and shoved its horn through Tsuna's chest (heart, Reborn _knew_ where the strike landed but couldn't help but pray otherwise), and Reborn's shot came too late. Didn't hit anyway, a gold-white flash deflecting the bullet—and it pulled back and bolted, leaving Tsuna to crumple face-first on the ground while Dino screamed his little brother's name even as Reborn involuntarily did the same.

Dino was struggling against spider-silk and Reborn made it to Tsuna's fallen form first. He could feel his students' Flames flickering, two Skies, which meant Tsuna was still alive.

He checked for a pulse and paused, surprised to find it strong and steady, then rolled Tsuna onto his back.

He was unconscious—not surprising—but despite the tear in his shirt and the new roundish silver mark above his heart, he was uninjured. Even the spider bites Reborn had seen him receive were gone. Reborn sat back, more relieved than he wanted to admit, and said, "Interesting."

Apparently that settled his worry-radiating other student enough to speak, as he finished tearing free of spider webbing. "Reborn?"

"He's fine," Reborn informed. "I think it _healed_ him." To what extent _,_ Reborn wasn't certain, but it was quite clear that Tsuna was uninjured.

A shaky breath, "Okay. Um. So… we were just helped by a—a—a…"

"Unicorn," Reborn supplied, as Dino seemed unable, a little stunned himself but unwilling to let it show. "It helped Tsuna, at least. It barely seemed to notice you."

He was starting to think that Tsuna had something in him that either boosted or flat-out _transcended_ Sky Flames' effect.

Then Tsuna's eyes opened, burning a bright, steady sunset.

Reborn inhaled sharply, suddenly aware of what the unicorn had done. Without the bullets, Tsuna shouldn't have been able to access his Flames with Nono's seal in place— _could_ not have, not even if desperate or truly dying. (And that seal likely had something to do with how useless Tsuna tended to be, locking away so much of what he was. Maybe when it was gone—but, that was it, wasn't it? With his eyes burning bright with Sky, Tsuna's seal _was_ gone.)

Tsuna blinked once, twice, then sat up with a mild wince, "Well," he mused. "I haven't felt so _clear_ since I was five and that old man poked me in the forehead with a flaming finger."

And that settled it. Tsuna remembered being sealed, remembered being different _before_ he was sealed, and suddenly felt 'clear'. The seal was gone. Reborn was pretty sure that was entirely unprecedented, but it was also a relief. The cracks each bullet put in that seal would not have been enough to break it for at least another year, perhaps even longer—this was a jump-start, and suddenly he could _really_ start to train the Vongola Heir.

Tsuna glared at him, "You know something."

… and Tsuna's before-fledgling and mostly sealed Intuition was apparently on at full. Lovely. That was going to make springing things on his student so much _harder._

Those eyes sharpened.

Reborn found himself answering without having consciously decided to do so, "Iemitsu had the Nono seal your Flames on your fifth birthday because you'd Activated so young."

Tsuna frowned and Dino cursed, "Didn't they know what doing that to an Active Sky would _do?_ "

Reborn grimaced, "I hope not. Nono probably didn't, at least; he's sealed other flame-types with no serious ill effects."

"Other flame-types aren't _Skies,_ " Dino snapped, sounding appalled. "The Harmonization factor links in with _everything!_ Taking that away could completely destroy someone—Tsuna's lucky it didn't kill him!"

And Reborn knew that, which was part of why he pushed Tsuna so hard, no matter how strange that sounded. Pressure from within mixed with intermittent pressure from without would have increased the rate of degradation of the seal. He'd been hoping to get it to break sooner. That unicorn (and seriously? _Unicorn?_ ) had likely just righted nearly everything that had been wrong with Tsuna, at least physically. All the enforced limitations on body and brain would be shattered, and the fact that he wasn't screaming in agony or still unconscious meant it had also smoothed away the damage from forcing the seal off so rapidly. Sure, he'd still be behind his classmates in how much he knew, but with his brain able to retain the information more easily, it shouldn't end up being that hard to help him catch up. His attention span and balance would probably improve, too.

Tsuna stood, far more smoothly than usual as the gold in his eyes dimmed to flecks of amber in brown. "Hey, Reborn… thanks for trying."

Reborn grimaced, "Damn it, that's _already_ annoying."

Tsuna grinned back at him, "If you get to read my mind, I get to read yours."

Reborn huffed and hopped up to sit on his head, tolerating the steadying palm as Tsuna offered Dino a hand up. "Thanks, Dino," he added, and Reborn glanced at his first student to see what Tsuna was replying to, only slightly put out that the surprise had already washed away the evidence of what he'd been thinking moments before.

Dino grinned back as the surprise eased, "So. Unicorn, little bro?"

The implication wasn't lost and Tsuna swatted at him while Reborn laughed. It was relief, mostly, and a little hope.

Tsuna would be just fine.

(The unicorn took to showing up from time to time when Tsuna was at the shrine or in the woods. Reborn decided he didn't want to know.)

 _xxxx_

 _*Spiders are the most commonly known, but scorpions_ are _arachnids as well._


	2. Hou-ou

Other chapters won't come up quite so quickly, and the story will (loosely) follow Anime canon. Fair warning.

 ** _Hou-ou  
_** _(the Japanese pronunciation of fenghuang)_ _ **  
**_ _Vaguely comparable to phoenix (only vaguely), hou-ou are immortal birds that symbolize balance and the colors of the male's tail represent the virtues of benevolence/charity, honesty/hard work/loyalty/altruism (yes, that's all encompassed in one word), knowledge, integrity, and what boils down to 'good manners'/politeness. The bird is a symbol of the Royal house and as a whole and has connections to fire, sun, justice, and fidelity; among other things. Basically, and all around positive bird that definitely has to do with a good ruler._

 _xxxx_

The ridiculousness of the unicorn aside, Reborn had not expected his student to continue attracting new creatures out of myth. Apparently he was somewhat lacking in his foresight.

When things started going wrong with Rokudo Mukuro possessing people and Tsuna not wanting to hurt them; on having a multicolored glowing bird with an armored back, a snakelike neck, and five peacock-shaped tail-feathers of five different colors all capped off by a quite beautiful crest pop up out of nowhere; all he could do was groan and hide his face in his hands.

On the bright side, Mukuro was so startled that he lost hold of his possession and Tsuna managed to smash his knife.

When the Vindice showed up to take Mukuro and his subordinates, Tsuna stepping in (terrifyingly _politely_ , at that) with what was unmistakably a _hou-ou_ hovering behind him had them leaving Ken, Chikusa, and Mukuro himself under Tsuna's care while releasing Lancia entirely.

There was just something _wrong_ with that—but he was sure the Vindice knew what the bird meant as well as he did, and the fact that it was obviously lending its support to Tsuna's request had even the enforcers of the Mafia world backing down.

Tsuna wasn't saying anything for the serial killers, though. The ones that actively enjoyed killing went with the Vindice with Tsuna's blessing on the arrests, which meant that Mukuro—for all his apparent psychosis—was not inherently evil.

Not if a _hou-ou_ was willing to support Tsuna's claim.

Still. This was _not_ how Reborn had envisioned Tsuna finding a Mist.

(The bird hung around constantly for three days after that, making sure that all of Tsuna's Elements and Dino and his men saw it. It was _ridiculous._ )

Tsuna, of _course,_ decided to take it in stride. Mukuro had settled quite a bit, and Tsuna's unique brand of rehabilitation therapy had the mass-murderer that was probably going to end up as his Mist Guardian showing a great deal more care towards his underlings.

(The fact that he ended up saving a girl that looked a lot like she could be his sister from being hit by a car two weeks later and then brought her home to Tsuna after finding out she'd been badly neglected really said a lot about either Tsuna's ability to judge character or his ability to _change_ character. Or both. Probably both.)

Tsuna sighed, eyed his growing family, and started looking for sources of income.

(Three weeks after that, he'd somehow overthrown the Momokyokai by accident and ended up with all their businesses under his control. A bit of tearful exasperation and judicious use of Gokudera's math skills and Mukuro's experience in handling violent underlings later, and Tsuna had a steady source of income as well as a safe place for his ever-growing Family to stay. It was only another week and a half before the Momokyokai had all fallen in love with their new boss—including the _old_ boss—and were all but squabbling over ways to make him happy. This apparently included taking over all other Yakuza groups in Namimori and the surrounding area and a complete devotion to protecting anyone and anything that Tsuna cared about, especially his friends and family. The next kidnapping attempt on Fuuta had been beaten down with impressive brutality, considering Hibari hadn't been on the scene.)

Reborn looked at everything his student was accomplishing (more than half of it without even _trying_ ) and found himself torn between pride and exasperation.

At this rate, Tsuna was going to have an empire rivalling Vongola's before he even got officially recognized as heir.

(The fact that the hou-ou had taken to showing up periodically just like the unicorn only made things worse.

Or maybe better. Reborn wasn't sure yet.)

 _xxxx_

Tsuna huffed in exasperation, stuffing his (completed) homework in his bag and turning on the paperwork that accumulated on the boss' desk. Which was unfortunately _his_ desk. And since he was now the boss of every group the Momokyokai had zealously gone out and conquered for him, he'd given up on the ridiculousness of everything and just gone along with it. Also, Tsuna had decreed all the former scattered groups as one and put up a renaming contest. Somehow, as Yakuza pride was apparently trumped by what was really starting to look like a cult devoted to Tsuna himself, none of them complained.

There had been a near-unanimous call to name the new group after Tsuna himself, and he'd refused to have his _name_ in it so they'd compromised on Sora, for Sky.

They even took to his policies of 'if you're going to be illegal, it's going to be the kind of illegal Hibari says is okay' remarkably well, which probably had something to do with Tsuna putting Hibari in charge of discipline and Ryohei in charge of training.

Yamamoto, determined not to be left out after the first assassination attempt Tsuna, went to his father for swordsmanship lessons.

(Tsuna was fairly sure that Mukuro was taking to his new position as head of internal security _way_ too enthusiastically. The poor would-be assassin hadn't stood a _chance._ The fact that Mukuro had handed the guy over to sweet-looking little Chrome and she'd proceeded to reduce him to terrified gibbering confessions—an irate Triad who disliked that Tsuna wasn't paying exorbitant tithes to the so-called 'overlord' of the general area being the one who'd put out the hit—without ever laying a finger on him just went to show that Tsuna's Mists were cruel _._ Or possibly just overprotective.)

As he thumbed through his paperwork—Gokudera was in charge of finance overall, and Reborn had been willing to advise on candidates for bringing in delegated local reports, so there was less of it than there could have been—one of the Sora brought a letter.

It was really quite a nice envelope and bore a distinctive seal. He eyed it for a moment, then shrugged and opened it, "Thank you for bringing this, Kuro-san. Would you mind waiting a moment?"

The man went starry-eyed (he was definitely in the cult), "Of course, Juudaime-sama!"

And that, Tsuna blamed Gokudera for. The whole group had picked it up from him, and while they had yet to realize _why,_ being too blinded by worshipful devotion, they still called him 'Tenth'. Tsuna was half convinced that most of them thought he was some kind of deity for that—foxes especially were believed to reach godhood if they gained ten tails.

At the very least, it wasn't discouraging his growing cult. Then again, the fact that he could light himself up with vibrant orange-gold fire didn't do much to discourage the worship, either, and the not-so-mythological creatures that popped up in his presence only made it worse.

He shook off the thoughts and read the letter—a meeting request from a group calling itself the First Triad. He considered this, then tilted the letter towards the corner of the room he could sense Reborn watching from.

A grumpy sound preceded his tutor hopping up on his desk to read the notice.

The flicker of his eyes was enough. "I suppose I should arrange a neutral location, then?"

Reborn nodded.

"Any suggestions?"

"Tokyo. Rent out the penthouse in one of the nicer hotels, or a restaurant in Ginza. You haven't conquered Tokyo, yet, so it should qualify as neutral territory."

"… and the fact that you can say that so casually says so much about my life. But I'd rather a natural location to meet, then a possible shift to somewhere we can eat."

Reborn considered that, interest in his eyes. "Well. If you feel like being daring, you could go to China."

"Hm," Tsuna turned the idea over in his mind, then nodded slightly. "I-pin may want to come, but her mentor seemed to want her away from assassin groups, and I don't know what Family she officially belongs to. Hibari should probably stay; someone needs to keep things in line. Gokudera will have to come with me, and Yamamoto. Mukuro will want to, and Chrome can take over for him while we're gone. I assume you have a suitable neutral location in mind?"

Reborn nodded, "The area is known as the 'Blessed Forest', and is reserved for… underground families. It's a neutral meeting place, and it has a town nearby with a restaurant that is generally heralded as one of the best in all of China. It is considered polite, however, to get all business talk done in the clearing. Before eating, in the case of neutrals or enemies, and after in the case of allies."

"How much Chinese do I need to know, and what dialect?"

"You're decent with Mandarin, now," Reborn pointed out. "I-pin being here has helped in that respect, and the First Triad is from that area. You should be fine. I will, naturally, accompany you."

"… I-pin's from that family, isn't she?"

"She _was,_ " Reborn conceded, slightly emphasizing the tense. "She was apprenticed out to Fon, who is in a similar position with the Triads as I am with the Vongola. He's technically neutral, but favored. As they actually apprenticed her to him, she is no longer considered part of the group and is instead contracted from without on a mercenary basis. Fon has entrusted her to your care, and so she is your ward, and they don't actually have claim even by their laws."

Still, Tsuna wanted to keep her away from anyone who would ask a _five-year-old_ to kill. He rubbed a hand over his face and wrote a polite letter in grass-script (thank you, I-pin) suggesting the meeting place and citing available times. He had a passport, of course, and he could make sure the others did, too. That was one good thing about the ridiculous number of contracts, contacts, and _worshippers_ he'd gotten.

He wrote out an address as given by Reborn and handed the sealed letter (he was using a personal seal of an elegantly simple dragon curled in on itself that he'd irritably burned out of a piece of steel with his own Flames. Intriguingly, it left a faint glow of his imprinted Flames on any wax he used) to Kuro. "Please see to it that this gets mailed out today, Kuro-san," he instructed, smiling.

Kuro looked overjoyed at the assignment, to the point that Tsuna was envisioning a wagging puppy-tail. He had a cult of Gokudera-ardent devotees. How was this his life?

(The return message was acceptance of place and one of the listed times. Tsuna sent back a polite agreement and arranged the trip.)

 _xxxx_


	3. Tóngshī

People, people. No dragons this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I love dragons of both general types, but for a first trip to China they seemed a bit too much.

 ** _Tóngshī_** **  
** _Shī here refers to the guardian lion statues that are placed in pairs in many Chinese areas—at first only at the homes of wealthy or important people—as symbols of protection, though it technically only means 'lion'. Shīshī refers to stone lions and tóngshī refers to bronze lions. While the statues are paired, traditionally there are three of the stylized lions in twinned statues, as the male has a paw placed on a ball and the female is gently restraining a playful cub._

 _xxxx_

Tsuna smiled in his usual genuinely sweet and polite manner at the Triad leader glowering in his direction, to all appearances completely unaffected by the show of hostility. His obvious ease in turn set those with him at ease, and while Gokudera was a little bristly about the disrespect, no one actually seemed worried.

That was fine by Tsuna. He wasn't particularly concerned by the small show of force that had met them (the Triad leader had an array of eight subordinates behind him), because he had Takeshi, Gokudera, Mukuro, and _Reborn_ with him. Besides, this was neutral ground. Eastern so-called 'mobsters' had honor. Usually.

Since they weren't there on behalf of Vongola, Reborn had actually straight up said he was going as a direct ally.

Tsuna had been touched.

"Good morning," he greeted in Japanese-accented Mandarin. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. I believe you wanted to discuss the lack of tribute. Personally, _I_ would like to discuss the matter of keeping on-assignment assassins out of my cities."

He ignored Reborn's aggrieved sigh.

"You are… straightforward," the Triad leader mused. "I am Shī."

"I see no reason to avoid solutions by speaking around problems," Tsuna told him. "More to the point, the former Yakuza groups in Namimori and the surrounding areas have been dissolved. Sora has no agreement with you, and thus owes no tribute. You have no right to be sending assassins before at least _attempting_ to reach an agreement."

There was a spark in Shī's eye that was equal parts offense and interest, and he politely turned his attention to the watcher off to the side, out of sight in the bamboo. "Is that not correct, Fon-san?"

Shī startled, not at Fon's presence but at the fact Tsuna had noticed him, and Reborn hid a smirk on Tsuna's shoulder. Of course the hitman had known.

Fon stepped out into the small clearing, nodding in greeting before addressing the question. "You are technically correct," he admitted. "However, it is generally agreed that the First Triad has tithing rights to the territories of Japan you have claimed."

"Generally and directly are not the same thing," Tsuna pointed out, still smiling politely. "Unless I have made an agreement, I have no reason to tithe. Upon hearing that the old groups had been dismantled and a new one had risen, the First Triad should have attempted to make an agreement, not immediately assassinate the leader of the new group, no matter how large or unexpected the group's appearance may have been."

I-pin's master paused, "That is… true."

Shī scowled, visibly insulted. "I have no need to bow to weak, honorless upstarts! Those groups that were _dismantled_ were beholden to me!"

Tsuna considered the claim. "Beholden, you say? You demanded tribute but offered no protection or sense of unity, ignoring the inter-group squabbles even when they cost lives. Those who are _beholden_ are meant to gain a measure of protection in return, which you never gave. Instead, you merely refrained from attacking. That is not 'beholden'. You will find that I will not submit _my_ people to such treatment so readily. I do not believe I am the 'honorless' one here."

Reborn outright face-palmed at that.

Shī snarled, reaching for his weapons, and Tsuna's people started to do the same despite the fact that Tsuna had not when an answering snarl erupted from the brush, metallic and catlike.

Tsuna blinked as a set of tóngshī paced out of the bamboo, the female dropping a cub into Tsuna's startled hold before joining her mate before him with an echoing growl, facing down the stunned-to-silence Triads.

Reborn flung up his hands in disgust, "How does this _keep_ _happening!?_ " he demanded of the air, earing a quick, wide-eyed glance from Fon while the Triad members kept their attention on the unexpected defenders.

Right about then, the hou-ou flew down to hover at Tsuna's shoulder and heavy thudding hoofbeats announced the arrival of the unicorn as it trotted to stand at his other side.

This did not help the mental states of either the Triads or Fon.

Tsuna shifted the cub into a one-armed hold to pinch the bridge of his nose, slipping back into Japanese, "I'll excuse the tóngshī, since they're both new and native," he said flatly, eying each of his other two self-appointed mythological mascots in turn, "but what are you two doing here?"

The hou-ou thrilled conversationally and the unicorn whuffled.

"That," Tsuna told them both, "is ridiculous."

The unicorn stamped, making an odd chiming sound despite the soft earth.

"No, I do _not_ need you to protect me everywhere I go—I can handle myself, and even if I couldn't, what do you think they're here for?" he demanded, waving at his three Elements and Reborn.

The hou-ou gave a petulant coo.

"Oh my _gods,_ do you guys _seriously_ want me to rule the _world?_ "

The affirming sounds from all four of the adult not-myths really didn't make him feel any better.

Takeshi wasn't the only one laughing behind him, and he deliberately didn't turn around to scowl. Reborn tilted his fedora down with a longsuffering groan, "That explains _so much_ about what happens around you, Tsuna."

Mukuro cackled, "You realize this will only give your worshippers more fuel, don't you, dear Tsunayoshi?"

"You idiots aren't helping," Tsuna informed.

(The First Triad backed down pretty quickly after that. A group of Chinese assassins had no interest in angering one of their own symbols of 'right-to-rule'. Shī even pledged the allegiance of himself and his family.)

The tóngshī family followed him home. There was some confusion about how whatever area he was currently in managed to have the bronze lion statues there, but Namimori citizens dealt with Hibari regularly, and moving statues were much less disturbing.

All Tsuna could do was sigh and put up with it.

 _xxxx_


	4. Akhlut (part I)

Still no dragon yet. One that I'm personally slightly more familiar with, as it was one that was area-related to where I grew up. Granted, I had Athabaskan friends and Inuit are both more scattered and more coastal, but such stories trickle inland. Upon actually looking them up, I could find very little and most out of Greenland instead of Alaska, but the basic idea was the same, so... Also, you may note that I'm multi-culture pulling these things. This is on purpose, and while there will be other more local to Japan mythological creatures included, I am going to aim for no two newcomers in a row coming from the same culture. I can at least _pretend_ that the hou-ou and the tóngshī were from two, since the hou-ou was deliberately swapped to the Japanese naming of it.

 ** _Akhlut  
(Part I)_**  
 _Akhlut are an Inuit legend, a shapeshifter of an interesting type. They are described as solid spirits, not unlike Japanese youkai. They belong to the sea, usually swimming in the form of an orca. When they grow hungry, though, they hunt on land—taking the shape of large wolves to kill. If their meals are occasionally human, well. They aren't human, and see little difference between one meal and the next. When on land, they are considered to be inherently… if not outright malevolent, at least the kind of dangerous any starving predator is, as they are only on land to hunt and will take whatever meat they come across first as fair prey._

 _xxxx_

Reborn had _wanted_ to freak Tsuna out by making him and his Guardians think that his Guardians were stowaways on a very nice cruise ship.

Unfortunately for Reborn (at least when it came to pulling things over on his student), the lack of seal and constant practice had Tsuna's Intuition such that Vongola Nono's couldn't hold a candle to it. Trying to lie to his face, even only by implying things up, down, and sideways, simply _didn't work._

So, Reborn no longer bothered trying. Instead, he told Tsuna exactly where they were going, why they were going there, and what was expected of him when they got there.

(The reaction was so offended that it was almost worth not being able to spring a trick or ten on him.)

He kind of wanted to get _Mafia Land_ to force Tsuna to meet Colonnello, but he had the feeling that if Tsuna felt threatened for _any_ reason, a myth or four would show up to put the 'threat' in its place. Which meant no pranking the kid into Mafia Land's security telling him to head for remedial training.

Which meant Reborn would have to _tell_ him. _Again_. And as much as he enjoyed watching the brains around Tsuna implode whenever people saw him casually chatting with mythological creatures, and as much as Shī had sworn fealty (which made Tsuna the—not head, but rather _overlord_ of the First Triad, which was in a similar position in Eastern Assassination groups that Vongola was in Mafia although Vongola was still larger and more widespread) and he had the Sora still rapidly spreading across Japan along with their 'Tsuna is a human deity' cult, he didn't really want to know what _someone_ would end up doing if Mafia Land harassed their 'god', even at Reborn's prompting.

And, _Dio,_ that was _so_ _ridiculous._ Worse, _Vindice._ They _loved_ Tsuna, and Reborn was dead certain that the little not-quite-Arcobaleno _leader_ of the Vindice (who had come over for _tea_ with Tsuna and Mamma) was secretly part of the Sora cult. Yeah. No. He wanted Mafia Land to still be floating by the time they left.

(Yes, he was going for the annual attack on purpose. He also hadn't told Tsuna that bit—he'd rather hoped to distract him from it with the whole 'need to get your face known by Vongola allies' thing, and while Tsuna had given him a very suspicious look, he'd let the omission slide. And, good _god,_ Reborn was thinking in terms of 'let' in regards to his _fourteen-year-old_ _student_ when he was _not_ the one doing the 'letting'.)

At least the cruise was nice. Mamma even seemed to be enjoying herself. That was good. Tsuna was always less anxious when Mamma was happy, and when Tsuna was less anxious his Guardians—especially one of his dual Mists—were less easily incited to violence. Considering Mukuro was the Mist in question, and that he might actually worship Tsuna _more_ than Gokudera did (if in a far less obvious manner), this meant the possibility for bystander mental trauma went down exponentially. That generally _also_ meant Tsuna was less anxious. Positive cycle, yay!

(Reborn liked chaos. _Reveled_ in it, even. But he wasn't so sure about the mythological magnetism Tsuna seemed to possess—even the _unicorn_ was kind of scary, not that he would _ever_ admit it aloud. Reborn was honestly glad that Tsuna had told the tóngshī to guard the house while they were gone—he didn't want to know what two-and-a-cub's worth of metal-eating mythological guardians would do to a cruise ship, even a Mafia one. The unicorn hadn't even tried to follow—she didn't seem too keen on large groups of people, which. Okay. Unicorn. As for the hou-ou… it had proven able to teleport since literally the moment it had first appeared, so Reborn would not be at all surprised if it decided to show up at some point.

He was just hoping that nothing _else_ did.)

So, positive cycle meant Mukuro was less likely to do something that had people realize who he was, and that meant there was less likely to be the kind of chaos that Reborn wouldn't have much of a handle on. If someone actually managed to _kill_ one of Tsuna's Mists before Reborn could stop it, he didn't really want to know what would happen. (Tsuna was kind and sweet and gently accepting. He was also a ferocious kind of protective, and Reborn respected that. Tsuna would allow Reborn to discipline Lambo, but undeserved thumps were very much a bad idea. And he was thinking in terms of 'allow' again; there was something _wrong_ with the whole situation.)

Now, hopefully Tsuna would be up for meeting Colonnello without, you know, bringing in anything else that shouldn't exist.

 _xxxx_

Tsuna had known Reborn was up to something. Even so, he had a point—if word got out that he lived in Namimori but people didn't actually know who he was, it could put innocent people in danger. Using a place that was deemed a standing neutral ground that was run and mostly used by allies would minimize the immediate risk of outing himself as Vongola heir.

There was something more to it, Tsuna _knew_ that, but Reborn hadn't been able to pull as many of the stunts he clearly enjoyed lately, so Tsuna might as well let him have his fun. With Takeshi, Gokudera, Mukuro, Chrome, Ken, Chikusa, Lambo, I-pin, Ryohei, Ryohei's sister and her friend, Kaa-san, Fon, _and_ Reborn along (Hibari had refused on principle—if he wasn't allowed to 'bite people to death' he wanted nothing to do with 'crowding') Tsuna had fairly little to worry about. Chrome, I-pin, and Lambo claimed they wanted to stick with Mamma and the other two girls, which meant Mukuro would keep an eye on them and between those four, Ken, and Chikusa (who would stick with Mukuro), he didn't need to worry about their civilians and the kids.

Oh, gods. He'd been spending too much time with Reborn. He was thinking of his mom, Kyoko, and Haru as _civilians._ Not that they _weren't,_ but… since when had he started thinking of himself as _not_ civilian!? (Oh gods. He _wasn't_ a civilian. He had a near-national yakuza group, the fealty of Fon and a large group of Chinese assassins, and he was the heir apparent to the most powerful Mafia in the world. Oh, gods, _why?_ )

"There's another Arcobaleno I want you to meet," Reborn announced approximately fifteen seconds after they'd gotten through security.

"Colonnello?" Fon asked, looking vaguely interested through his usual serenity.

Reborn nodded and Tsuna tilted his head questioningly.

"The Rain," Reborn grudgingly conceded. "He has a training course on the other half of the island."

Tsuna snorted, "Of course he does. Is it anything like what you did with Death Mountain?"

"The people sent to him for training aren't Vongola," Reborn informed primly.

"So, somewhat, but not as much as you'd like it to be, then?"

Fon chuckled even as the real kids ran ahead with gleeful energy, the girls and Nana jogging after them with indulgent laughs. "Tsunayoshi-sama knows you quite well, it seems."

Tsuna very carefully did not twitch. Fon calling him '-sama' had initially been a serious mark of the fact that he _had_ sworn fealty, and was thus addressing him 'properly' in his native language. It hadn't taken long for the Storm Arcobaleno to grow comfortable with him, though, and it—due to Tsuna's increasingly exasperated insistence that the suffix was unnecessary—had become a gentle but _annoying_ form of teasing.

Only _knowing_ that there was good-natured amusement behind the address kept Tsuna from protesting too seriously. Sure, it annoyed him, but… well, it was a good sign, that Fon was willing to tease. Even if he made sure to do it in a way that would point out to any who overheard that Fon held Tsuna in high esteem.

(Which was probably why he'd chosen _that_ as a method of teasing, come to think. He didn't do it quite so obviously in Namimori, but this _was_ a Mafia-only institution. He was making it obvious that Tsuna had personal allies.)

Reborn didn't bat an eye, but Tsuna just knew he was pouting internally.

"Juudaime?" Gokudera hesitated with Takeshi while Ryohei stopped a few more paces down the street, visibly torn between following after his little sister (he was a bit overprotective) and staying with Tsuna, Mukuro already having vanished after Chrome as they'd previously discussed.

In turn , Tsuna just waved dismissively. "It's fine, guys. I'll have Reborn and Fon with me, and if I end up needing you, Moeru can probably grab you for me."

Takeshi tilted his head, "Oh? The hou-ou has a name, then?"

Tsuna shrugged, "He keeps lighting himself on fire. And then he started answering to it. Anyway, go have fun, but make sure you keep each other safe, okay?"

That was all they needed to finish vanishing, and Tsuna shook his head fondly. Sure, it might have been fun to go on the rides, but… well, he was getting a handle on flying with his Flames and he had the distinct feeling that even the best rollercoasters were going to be disappointing, after that. Might as well meet this Colonnello— _Reborn's_ obstacle courses were traumatizing, but something a little less intense might be a blast.

 _x_

Oh, gods. Arcobaleno in a military outfit toting a… Tsuna didn't know guns, but that was some kind of either semi-automatic or sniper thing.

"Oi! Kora! Reborn, who's the fluff-ball!?"

"That is a rather impolite form of address," Fon noted, smoothly bland, and the other Arcobaleno stopped and blinked at him.

"Fon? You're here, too?"

"Reborn still calls me dame-Tsuna," Tsuna pointed out against the Storm's mild-sounding protest. (There was a little irritation in it, but Tsuna wasn't sure how he knew that.)

"Reborn is your tutor and is quite fond of you. That grants him a certain amount of privilege."

Reborn scowled viciously but didn't deny it, so Tsuna took that as a declaration of agreement. "Anyway, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"He's _impossible,_ " Reborn informed immediately, "and I can't complain about him to Fon or he throws Storm-dragons at me."

Colonnello got a very Reborn-like gleam in his eyes, "Needs to be whipped into shape, then?"

"Not that kind of impossible," Reborn grumped, and Tsuna stifled a snicker at the confused glance the little military-esque blond shot him. "Tsuna, this is Colonnello. I am aware that the area is a training course with some actually possibly health-threatening traps, but _please_ don't do anything mind-bending today."

"It's not _my_ fault you put giant spiders on Death Mountain," Tsuna protested.

"It _is_ your fault that you have a multi-national cult worshiping you," Reborn retorted.

Tsuna pulled up short in horror, "It's _multi-national!?_ "

Colonnello opened his mouth, paused, looked at a visibly amused Fon, and closed it again to watch the show.

Reborn smirked and ticked off points on his fingers, "Sora and all their converts in Japan, the First Triad and anyone they've converted in China, and the Vindice—who are arguably Italian."

" _Vindice?_ " Colonnello sputtered.

"I still say Bermuda's not part of the cult."

"He worships you, Tsuna; it's the same thing."

Fon snickered and Reborn glanced over, saw Colonnello's bug-eyed expression, and looked viciously pleased. "The leader of the Vindice handed three criminals into your custody and dropped all charges against a fourth just because you _asked nicely,_ dame-Tsuna. You have _Rokudo Mukuro_ as one of your Mists."

"And you as one of my Suns, I suppose?" Tsuna shot back. Paused. Thought that one over and facepalmed, "Don't answer that."

"At this point," Fon pointed out, simultaneously teasing and mild, "I am one of your Storms, Tsunayoshi-sama."

"Now, if only you could get another Lightning," Reborn snarked.

"Verde, perhaps?" Fon asked, joining Reborn in 'ignoring' Colonnello's gaping shock though it was obvious the two were enjoying seeing how far they could get before he either exploded or fell over. "Ordinarily I would be more hesitant, but considering Shī and the Vindice…"

Reborn paused, giving that some honest consideration. "We'd have to trick him into coming," he pointed out.

"The real question is, could he be an official Guardian as an Arcobaleno?"

"If we made sure it was clear that he was a placeholder until the cow brat is old enough…"

"Will you _stop_ discussing my Guardians without even letting me meet the candidates first?" Tsuna demanded grumpily.

Colonnello managed to fall over and explode at the same time, arms flailing as he ended up sitting down with the force of his own gestures, "Kora! What the—you're messing with me, kora!"

Tsuna blinked at him, spared a moment to think ' _Why not, I have to pick up_ something _from Reborn_ ', and tilted his head, "But they haven't even mentioned the weird things, yet."

 _x_

A very messy training course and a short dip in the ocean later, and Tsuna felt something watching him. It didn't feel… _hostile,_ exactly, but more the alert curiosity of a predator. Not hungry or otherwise intending harm, but _interested._

He pulled on dry clothes, ignoring his three-Arcobaleno audience, and decided to hand out fair warning. "Reborn, something is watching me."

"We're all watching you, Tsuna," Reborn told him blandly.

"Something that doesn't feel like human eyes," Tsuna elaborated dryly. "I thought I'd warn you since this time I can."

Reborn dropped his face into his hands. "Tsuna. No more."

"I don't _ask_ them to show up!"

Reborn raised his head to glower, " _No more._ "

Colonnello went a little wide-eyed. "What…?"

"You know what? I'm going to find the others," Tsuna informed. "These things generally only happen when something bad is happening."

Reborn took a slow breath and let it out, eying the area almost plaintively before he started to follow Tsuna, "I don't even _want_ to know."

"Oi, did the kid break Reborn, kora!?"

 _xxxx_


	5. Akhlut (part II)

So, longer chapter, slightly less humorous. Still, have.

 ** _Akhlut  
(Part II)  
_** _One of the stories of how akhlut came to be was of a man who adored the sea, and spent so much time staring out over it even when he was not in a kayak upon it that one day, his very appearance began to change. When he returned to his village that night, his people did not recognize him and, fearful, they turned him away. When he was near-starving alone in the wilds, a pack of wolves took him in and cared for him, taught him to hunt as they did, and he took on a form like theirs. Even so, his love of the sea did not wane. Eventually he ran into the sea as a wolf, and became an orca. When he grew hungry, however, he returned to the land to hunt as a wolf as he had been taught, and his anger towards the people that had turned him away meant he would eat them if he came upon them. And so he was believed to be the first akhlut. Perhaps those there may be are his descendants, or perhaps there is only him, who has been a shape-changing spirit of sea and hunt for so long that he doesn't remember that he was ever anything else. (Or perhaps, when he ran into the sea, he simply drowned… and akhlut are something else entirely.)_

 _xxxx_

Colonnello had known Reborn for over thirty-three years. Granted, they didn't exactly spend a lot of time in each other's company, but over thirty years of semi-regular contact meant they at least weren't strangers.

Because of this, and the fact that Reborn didn't exactly pour his heart out to _anyone,_ Colonnello was fairly confident in claiming to know the Arcobaleno Sun better than most. One of the things that he definitely knew about Reborn was that he didn't just take surprises and general chaos in stride, he _thrived_ on them.

It was hard to surprise Reborn. It was harder to challenge him. He bored far too easily, as evidenced by his teaching methods, especially concerning Dino Chiavarone*.

So. What was it about this kid-Vongola that had _Reborn_ seem to be caught somewhere between resignation and plaintive distress?

Fon's presence had been a surprise, too, and the form of address even more so. '-sama'? That didn't seem very _Fon,_ who was a Storm—not an Invert, despite first impressions, but rather one who had worked hard to acquire the level of patience he had—and had a Storm's usual habit of being straightforward wherever possible. Fon leaned towards 'blunt and uncompromising'. Not even the leader of the Triad he worked with earned an equivalent title, so why did the kid? (Especially to the point of aiming _Storm-dragons_ at _Reborn?_ )

And Fon had slipped off after said kid and Reborn with a smile that looked more amused than serene, which was in itself a fair break in character.

What was it about the kid? Fon had _claimed_ a Harmony bond, and while Reborn hadn't claimed one, he hadn't _denied_ one, either.

Which. What the hell?

That left Colonnello with very few options on how to find out more, with said kid Sky heading out to find 'the others', which a quick check with security proved was a fairly diverse group. A diverse group including two girls who were distinctly not Flame-active, the kid's mom (also not Active), two actual toddlers, two Arcobaleno, an up-and-coming Storm bomber that was apparently _not_ going to end up a freelance hitman or dead in a ditch somewhere, three felons whom _Vindice-forwarded paperwork_ had said were in Sawada Tsunayoshi's custody (not Vongola's and, dear god, Reborn hadn't been kidding on the 'Rokudo Mukuro' part), an exuberant Sun, a cheerful Rain, a quiet Mist girl, and Sawada himself.

Two were toddlers and three obviously Flameless. Yeah, Colonnello could see why the kid wanted to keep an eye on them.

That in mind, he told security that the training grounds were closed for the day and whistled for Falco.

Time to join up with Reborn and Fon and see if he couldn't figure out what the fuss was about!

 _xxxx_

Fon was intrigued and somewhat impressed when the invasion alarms went off and his Sky ( _his_ Sky, something he had never expected to find) grumbled to himself and started making his way through the crowd towards the fortress at the center of the island before veering slightly and intercepting his confused-looking teen Sun and Rain who had obviously been separated out from the main group. As the main language spoken in Mafia Land was Italian, it was clear that the two only knew what was going on because the alert system ran in six languages on a repeating loop.

They both looked _very_ relieved to see Tsunayoshi. "Sawada! I'm extremely glad you're here!"

"Ha, ha… hey, Tsuna, we got a little caught in the crowd…" Yamamoto looked sheepish more than confused, and Fon had already been fairly sure his happy-go-lucky 'Mafia-game' attitude was just to poke at Gokudera, but the 'sorry I failed' implied in the true shame beneath childish sheepishness was confirmation. He _knew_ this was no game, but chose to pretend otherwise.

Tsunayoshi waved off the implied apology, "It's fine, you two. This way. It feels like Mukuro and Gokudera-kun have turned back, but they sent everyone else ahead to the fortress—we should catch up. I don't want the kids and our civilians left with so little protection."

'Our civilians'? Interesting choice of words, implying heavily that Tsunayoshi had conceded that he _wasn't,_ and that they were under his protection. A side-glance showed Reborn looking proud and Fon smiled a bit, then paused as Colonnello dropped in via Falco, who promptly arced back into the air to keep an eye out for trouble.

Tsuna led them through the mess of people unerringly, sweeping up Gokudera and Mukuro on the way, and they got into the fortress' courtyard just in time to have a multi-directional verbal war escalate to shouting.

It took Fon a moment to parse through the Italian going every which-way, but the inability to decide on a leader for the defense was clear. Tsuna _groaned,_ sounding so disgustingly exasperated that Fon had to stifle a chuckle.

"Juudaime?" Gokudera half-asked, looking torn.

Tsuna sighed and waved him on, " _Someone_ needs to get these idiots to stop and Reborn wants to start getting me a reputation, anyway."

Permission granted, Gokudera jumped into the argument with a declaration that _his_ boss would be taking the lead.

The sudden new voice managed to at least get a united front. "Yeah?" one of the other bosses stepped forward with a sneer, "And what Famiglia are you with?" he demanded in Italian.

"Vongola," Tsuna informed, stepping up beside Gokudera and setting a calming hand on his arm when he bristled at the tone.

Reborn made an odd sound, and Fon blinked twice. "I was not aware Tsunayoshi could speak Italian," he murmured questioningly.

Colonnello gave his own questioning sound.

"He's never _learned,_ " Reborn growled.

Every other group backed down immediately, and Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Seriously, just for a Famiglia name? Without even knowing my position? If I was an incompetent gruntling minion, this would end _really_ badly."

"You are neither incompetent nor a… 'gruntling minion', Signore Tsunayoshi," Fon pointed out, altering his form of address for the crowd's benefit.

Tsunayoshi sighed, "Yes, but it doesn't speak well of _their_ competence that they didn't even ask."

Beside Fon, Reborn nodded approvingly at that assessment and Colonnello chuckled softly. Tsunayoshi shook his head, "Well, there will be time for that later. Get all the non-combatants behind the walls with any Mists who are able to defend them—Mukuro, if you and Chrome would handle the organization, that would be appreciated."

"Of course, dear Tsunayoshi," Mukuro purred, knowing full well that Tsunayoshi wanted someone he trusted close to those of his people who couldn't defend themselves.

"Nii-san, I know you're usually front-line, but if you'd organize the non-combat Suns and provide more direct protection in case anyone gets past the walls and the Mists?"

"I will extremely handle it! No worries!"

Tsunayoshi nodded, "You may have to get Mukuro to translate for you. Meanwhile… Get all the Flame-users up here! I want to know who you are and what you can do!"

" _Is_ he speaking in Italian?" Fon asked after another moment, trying to figure out what he was hearing. Everyone seemed to understand him, but Tsunayoshi's group—with the notable exceptions of Gokudera, Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa—didn't actually _speak_ Italian and it was almost certain that only a fraction of the Mafiosi in front of them spoke Japanese.

"At this point," Reborn informed dryly, "I don't even _know._ "

Overall the scattered groups were coming together wonderfully under Tsuna's direction, listening and obeying without any sort of reluctance despite the earlier slight to their competence. Which made no sense, and _perhaps_ Fon could understand why Reborn was starting to get frustrated with this sort of thing.

Still, Tsunayoshi was preforming admirably, sorting through basic skills and arranging defenses with a bit of input from his Storm and Rain in a quick and efficient manner.

Then the actual attack came.

 _xxxx_

Tsuna went from serious and commanding to utterly disbelieving in less than a second when the spearheading attack group turned up. There was an Arcobaleno with a giant, armored, land-crawling red octopus (purple Pacifier, so Cloud—oh, gods, if this was the Arcobaleno equivalent of Hibari, he was calling for _backup_ ); and he changed plans mid-motion.

"Gokudera, Takeshi, Fon!" he didn't bother with Reborn—the Sun had long since told him his contract forbade him to act directly on Tsuna's behalf.

His younger Storm and Rain fell in beside and slightly behind him at his tone while Fon took the way he tilted his head slightly to the side as the invitation it was and landed on his shoulder as he strode forward.

Reborn hadn't been too keen on explaining the Arcobaleno, but Fon had gone over the basics—they weren't children, they _were_ cursed, and they weren't allowed to hurt each other. Not seriously, at any rate. Which meant that there was a chance that the little Cloud would back down.

(Not if he was like Hibari, but hopefully there was only _one_ of Hibari.)

The octopus-riding mini-Cloud flailed his arms and Tsuna recognized the type of gesture, immediately finding himself less worried.

"Fon, you're here!? Why are you following a kid's orders?"

Fon scowled and jumped down in front of Tsuna, "Tsunayoshi is both my liege and my Sky," he informed sharply, "Reborn and Colonnello also stand in defense of this island. Stand down, Skull."

Skull's helmet hid his expression, but Tsuna could guess, "I'm under orders! The Carcassa want me to take the island, so I have to try!"

Tsuna frowned. This Cloud—he didn't seem like he really wanted to be doing this. Also, the way he said that, 'so I have to try'… "Fon, the Carcassa. Excluding the Vongola, would I have the manpower to make them back off?" he asked quietly.

"Excluding the Vongola?" Fon frowned, matching his tone. "Yes. Sora and the First Triad would be more than a match, even if we left it entirely to them."

Tsuna nodded thoughtfully, and one of the Carcassa men shot at him without an order.

Tsuna had people behind him, and his response was instinctive and even faster than Fon's—a _wall_ of Sky burst up in front of him just as the others also started shooting at the sound of the undisciplined guy's shot.

Bullets pinged against his Flames, half-melted metal plipping to the ground, and Tsuna heard Skull squawk in alarmed protest.

Then something else.

"Fon, can you grab Skull while we deal with the minions?"

Fon tilted his head, "'Grab'?" he asked.

"Yeah. Get him over here? I don't think he actually _wants_ to do this."

"Ah," Fon stated. "Of course."

And, quite suddenly, the shooting was joined by screams, and then stopped entirely.

Alarmed, Tsuna dissipated the vision-impairing wall of Flames and _stared._

Reborn stared, too, not quite sure what to make of what he was seeing. A fair number of the Carcassa were dead, the others injured or unconscious. Skull's octopus was barely holding back a _massive_ white wolf, three of its limbs gripping the ground for balance as the other five held back snapping jaws, trying to keep the eerily silent creature from eating Skull.

It looked like someone had taken the colors of a killer whale and reversed them, Reborn noted—black markings above its eyes, a grey streak halfway down it's back visually breaking the line of its body and more black on its chest and belly. Its silence was a little unnerving, and Reborn tensed, Leon dropping into his hold and shifting into a rifle. He couldn't help _Tsuna_ in situations like these unless they became immediately life-threatening, and not at all if they involved internal Vongola affairs, but Skull was still his Lackey and he wouldn't let some oddly-colored oversized canid eat him.

"Ah, wolf-san? Could you not hurt that one?"

… and neither would Tsuna.

The creature stopped trying to get past the octopus and turned its head to stare at Tsuna, making a sound that was nothing like a wolf's. It sounded almost like a whale's whistle with a bit of a growling undertone, sharply questioning.

"Well, I _am_ grateful for the assistance," Tsuna agreed, "but that one—I want to keep him." _Keep_ him? Was Tsuna trying to _actually_ claim Skull or just get the wolf to stop?

A second growling whistle, accepting, and the giant wolf stepped back before turning to face Tsuna entirely, padding closer with a intently curious gaze. It came to a halt in front of him, ignoring Fon still standing defensively in front of him, barely coming up past the thing's ankles. It paused, then dipped its head to stare at Tsuna eye-to-eye, giving a sound between a click and a bark as Fon tensed slightly, clearly wary.

Well, Reborn was wary, too. The unicorn had killed the spiders without a blink, and it was a _literal_ herbivore. He wasn't sure about the hou-ou, but the tóngshī had been ready to fight for Tsuna, and this new… whatever it was… had definitely caused fatalities when it cut through the squad of Carcassa.

Tsuna didn't look worried, though, and nodded back, visibly (to Reborn) appreciative and somewhat relieved. "Thank you, Akhlut-san. I will. Ah… if you're going to hunt on land, though, this isn't the best island. While there are many people, they aren't going to let you eat them without fighting back, and this island is under my protection."

Oh, Reborn did _not_ like the implications of those words. Simplistic and not ones Tsuna would generally use, and the fact that he said 'while there are many people' in immediate reference to _hunting,_ this sounded like something that was distinctively _not_ a guardian entity.

A longer pause, then a grudging click-bark of acknowledgement, immediately followed by a whistle.

"Ah, no. The armored ships are attacking."

Its head snapped up, ears pricking forward, and it click-barked twice before turning and bounding away, white fur already shimmering to smooth black skin.

Tsuna blinked after it, wincing. "That may have been the wrong thing to say."

Reborn didn't want to think about it.

Someone in the pile of wounded whimpered, and Fon snapped into motion, launching forward to snag the Cloud from Oodako even as Tsuna glanced at his Rain, "Would you get Ryohei to pick us out couple of the Suns? We should patch up the survivors."

Clearly, he was under no illusions that the creature had held back. There were dead amongst those scattered bleeding on the ground, and Reborn regretted that Tsuna knew it. (He was young, and still so new to the Mafia, so innocent. Death was going to become part of what he'd see eventually, but Reborn had not wanted it to be so _soon._ Still, he was holding together admirably, despite the obvious show of mercy. And the fact that he wasn't batting an eye at the dead—he would, later, Reborn was sure, but for now he was doing _well_ —or showing obvious personal concern would keep the Mafiosi who witnessed this guessing. Weakness or strength? Mercy could mean either. And he wasn't letting Ryohei see. Takeshi had a strange disassociation with reality that meant it wasn't really bothering him and Gokudera was Mafia-raised, but the 'extreme' Sun was still too new for his reaction to be predicted. It was smart to keep him away.)

Takeshi nodded, eyes hitman-sharp, and slipped back to the fortress as Fon dumped Skull at Tsuna's feet, the small form giving the impression of wide-eyed worry despite the helmet.

"Skull, is it?" Tsuna asked.

The Lackey nodded slowly. "Y-yes," he agreed, the faintest quiver to his voice.

"Great," Tsuna beamed at him, sending him visibly reeling. "Wait here, please, Skull-san. Fon, if you would…?"

"Of course, Tsunayoshi-sama," Fon agreed easily, settling in beside Skull with folded arms.

(Somewhere to the east of the island, something exploded and black smoke started rising into the sky. Reborn didn't want to know.)

"Colonnello-san, is Mafia Land _declared_ neutral territory, or only accepted?" Tsuna asked, striding over towards where Reborn and Colonnello stood near the patchy crowd of Mafiosi.

"Uh, declared," Colonnello said after a moment, looking more than a little bemused.

"And Skull-san said he was under orders, but didn't seem to want to follow them. Hm…" Tsuna tilted his head slightly, then pulled out his phone, checked the service, and made a call just as Takeshi got back with three Suns, he and Gokudera instructing them to start healing the worst of the survivors' wounds.

"Ah, Jager-san!"

Jager? That was the Vindice second-in-command, wasn't it? (And how had this troublesome student of his been the reason he knew the names of some of the _Vindice?_ )

"Hm, not sure, you may be able to answer yourself," Tsuna relaxed a bit as he spoke, clearly entirely too at ease with the Mafia's Law enforcers. "The Carcassa sent the Cloud Arcobaleno to head an attack on Mafia Land, which is declared neutral territory."

Another slight pause, then a quick assurance, "No, Skull-san didn't actually make any hostile moves himself, but one of the men with him started shooting against orders and the rest followed suit. The only injuries so far are to Carcassa—I have some of the available Suns patching up the survivors, but there are still some ships out there and they may decide to send in another assault team."

Tsuna shifted the phone on his shoulder while pretty much everyone but the Suns and the wounded Carcassa they were grudgingly healing just listened silently, "No, not as such. They don't seem to be much of a threat and… another one showed up to help. I think he's taking care of at least one of the ships."

Another one. Reborn didn't groan at the reminder, even though he wanted to. Tsuna was _impossible._

"Ah, thank you, Jager-san. I'll see you soon."

"Tsuna," Reborn covered his eyes with one hand, "Did you just call the Vindice?"

Tsuna blinked at him, "Why is that a question?"

 _Because I was vainly hoping I was wrong_ , Reborn thought grumpily.

Then there were Vindice, and the answer pretty much made itself obvious to all.

Everyone but Tsuna and Reborn at least flinched—Reborn was too cool for that, and Tsuna actually liked Jager for some reason, who was at the head of the little group. "Jager-san!" Tsuna greeted.

Jager dipped his head, " **Sawada Tsunayoshi.** " A gesture had chains plucking up the living Carcassa who weren't in danger of bleeding to death, and he waited a few moments for a Sun to finish patching another before snagging that one, too. " **The Cloud Arcobaleno?** "

Tsuna shook his head as Skull went perfectly still. "I don't know what the Carcassa have on him, but I'd like to break his contract with them and offer him one myself. He seems like a decent guy."

Jager nodded acknowledgement, " **I will inform Bermuda. The Carcassa have violated Mafia Law repeatedly by intentionally attacking Neutral Ground. Now that the complaint has been filed, we will exact punishment for the infraction. Reparation will be made to Sora and Vongola for the inconvenience.** "

Tsuna beamed, and it was Jager's turn to falter under the assault of weaponized cheer (Reborn wouldn't ever admit it, but he was impressed by how well that cheer staggered people), "Thanks, Jager-san! You should come by to visit sometime!"

No, he shouldn't. Tsuna liked them and Mamma was somehow just as cheery in their presence, but Reborn's instincts _itched_ when those black Flames were around.

Jager hesitated, then nodded slightly. " **I will bear that in mind, Tsunayoshi.** "

The Vindice took the Carcassa—dead included, both oddly and thankfully, as Mamma and the girls didn't need to see them—and vanished in that unnerving black Flame.

Tsuna sighed before turning back to the smattering of Mafiosi, eying the tired Suns with concern. No one aside from Tsuna's people seemed able to react.

Finally Colonnello turned to Reborn, "You know, Reborn," he started conversationally, though his voice rose with each word, "when you said the kid was impossible, I didn't think you meant _friends with the Vindice!_ "

Reborn spared him a scathing glance (he _had_ mentioned the Vindice worshiping Tsuna) before turning to glower at Tsuna instead, not at all happy with the introduction of not only another presumably mythological creature, but one he hadn't even heard of.

"Tsuna. _What was that?_ "

Tsuna winced, "Uh, he said that people call his kind akhlut? Aside from that, I have no idea."

Reborn gave up, "Well. I wanted you to get a reputation…"

"I _have_ a reputation," Tsuna pointed out.

"Not as Decimo," Reborn retorted, which got several startled sounds from the onlookers as they remembered how to breathe. Good, they'd remember the Decimo as someone whom even the Vindice respected, but just to add to the legend… "The Sora love you and you have a Triad more than willing to act in your name, but you don't have a reputation with Vongola or the Mafia as a whole." He paused, "Or, you _didn't._ "

"You're the one who brought me here," Tsuna pointed out.

"I need to stop putting you in any situation that is even remotely close to interesting," Reborn decided, more seriously than he wanted to admit. "Is that… _akhlut_ going to pull the same stunt as the other four?"

"Um… maybe?" Tsuna shrugged uncomfortably, "He's… well, he was talking like people are a food source, so if he does we'll have to keep an eye on him."

"People, a 'food source'," Reborn repeated flatly, not pleased to have his earlier suspicions confirmed. "You know what? No. _No._ The unicorn was bad enough; you are _not_ bringing home man-eating monsters."

"I didn't _bring home_ the unicorn!" Tsuna protested, " _You're_ the one who covered the mountain in giant spiders!"

"I'm not the one who had a _unicorn_ stab me in the heart with a meter-long _spear!_ " Damn. He'd thought he was over that, but seeing Tsuna fall, thinking him dead or dying even though it had been a blessedly brief moment… Reborn firmly jerked his emotions and tone back under control.

Colonnello stared, "Are they talking about what I _think_ they're talking about?"

Fon nodded serenely, "The unicorn has become a common sight in the forest or near the Shrine whenever Tsunayoshi-sama is in the vicinity. As have the fenghuang and the tóngshī. He appears to have something of an attractant effect on supposedly mythological creatures."

Reborn ignored them both, irritated and trying not to think about the events of the last hour.

" _Anyway,_ " Tsuna stated, obviously also not happy, although Reborn was pretty sure that Tsuna's was more 'trying not to freak out' than 'irritated' no matter how he sounded, "Invasion repelled. Vindice handling punishment. Can we do something _not_ involving combat, training, _combat training,_ Flames, or mythological creatures?"

" _Please,_ " Reborn returned, not bothering to hide his exasperation. "No more myths today. And no more speaking in tongues, Tsuna—I have no idea what language you're using, but _everyone_ understands you."

Tsuna blinked, startled. " _What?_ "

 _xxxx_

 _*Headcanon: The anime subtitles and the manga have different spellings for Dino's name; Cavallone/Chiavarone, respectively. While the Reborn Wiki claims that Chiavarone is correct—it_ does _look more Italian, so who knows_ — _I have decided that Chiavarone is his personal family name and Cavallone is the name of the Mafia Famiglia that his family founded. It gives some differentiation, and since I actually like both spellings, it also gives me an excuse to use them._

 _xxxx_


	6. Interlude I

.

 ** _Interlude I_**

 _xxxx_

Just to add to his life's complications, the akhlut did indeed follow Tsuna home. Tsuna then spent three hours in the water with an orca just far enough offshore so that said orca wasn't in danger of beaching himself.

Tsuna explained that, no, the humans around here _can't_ be food and that it was better if he didn't treat humans as food at all anymore, because humans had scary weapons now and also would start hurting the animals in the area if they thought it was one of them attacking people.

The akhlut agreed that if Tsuna didn't want his people eaten, that was understandable. If most people were _Tsuna's_ , obviously he could only eat the ones that were trying to hurt Tsuna. But if eating people upset Tsuna that much, he would stick to other things, unless someone did something particularly bad.

(Tsuna had the feeling that if someone actually killed him, the akhlut was going to have to split the vengeance with a whole lot of others, and most of those others were _people._

Still, the 'no eating people' rule had been accepted, and Tsuna was going to call that a win. (He also wasn't going to ask what the orca-wolf had done on the ships at Mafia Land. He did _not_ want to know.)

Also, he needed to start finding names for his mythological supporters. Now that Moeru the Hou-ou had an actual name, he felt like the others needed them, too. Well, any that didn't object, anyway. The akhlut objected, so would forever be Akhlut-san. (Naming contests soon became a thing, as the myths in question got final say on whether or not they'd answer to one, and they were _picky._ )

After that, things fell into a quiet, if busy, routine. Tsuna's grades steadily improved with the aid of both Reborn and Gokudera, even though he had quite a bit of time eaten up by final-decision paperwork from the Sora's relevant businesses and/or interactions. Tsuna had flung up his hands and given in when the Namimori group asked if they were allowed to conquer Tokyo, telling them to not kill if there was any way to avoid it and to bring back any and all leaders and seconds _alive_.

That… had been either a very good or a very bad decision, and Tsuna had yet to determine which as he eyed the group of angry (former) yakuza bosses and their 'right hands', as Gokudera would call them. Sora had, of course, relieved them of their weapons and Mukuro was lurking casually in a corner, Reborn watching from the other side of a two-way mirror.

Tsuna eyed the kneeling men and then his own too-proud group, then sighed. "Kuro-san, introductions please."

He could _feel_ Reborn being pleased on the other side of the glass, and Tsuna had to admit managing this crazy lot was probably great 'Vongola Boss' practice. He'd given up on bothering with making simple things sound like requests, though he left his orders open-ended enough to imply refusal as an option.

(No one ever actually refused, unless it was the 'call me by name' request.)

Kuro beamed and obeyed, cheerfully introducing the dozen-odd bosses and their seconds.

Tsuna nodded, turning his eyes on the three most angry and considering. Those would have to be handled separately, as would two of their seconds. The last looked terrified of what was going on, but considering he _also_ was subtly leaning away from his boss and shooting worried looks in that direction, there was possibility there.

"Mukuro," he said, indicating the five he'd picked out. "Please take them to the cells—make sure they are held separately. I don't want any fights."

(Reborn emanated _pride._ )

"Of course, darling," Mukuro purred, using his illusions to help him do so and avoiding Tsuna's name—which was probably because Tsuna hadn't introduced himself. Which, yes, had been deliberate, and Reborn really _was_ rubbing off on him.

Tsuna waited until the illusion of Mukuro that he'd left lounging against the wall exactly where he'd been before stepping away (giving the impression that a second Mukuro had split out of his body and really weirding out most of the prisoners) gave a quick 'all clear' gesture before turning back to the now even more nervous group.

Tsuna nodded politely, "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, and I'm the leader of the Sora. Do you know why you are here?"

Several wary head-shakes.

Kuro scowled, "Show respect to Juudaime-sama!" he snapped, sounding like a somewhat less intense Gokudera.

Tsuna raised a hand placatingly, "It's fine, Kuro-san. It is understandable that they are displeased; we _did_ just pull a hostile takeover."

He subsided, blushing. "Of course, Juudaime-sama."

Okay, he and Gokudera were no longer allowed alone unsupervised within speaking distance of each other. Meanwhile, Tsuna had quite a few bosses to explain to.

"Sora has decided," he used the name of the group rather than the likely expected self-pronoun because _he_ didn't have anything to do with it, "that Tokyo is disorganized and under improper handling due to infighting and too many 'bosses'. Your groups will be either absorbed or disbanded."

The rest of the situation involved polite explanations, contract signing, and passing out the 'Rules' books as well as a brief rundown on the most important of those Rules and the consequences of breaking them.

It took _hours,_ and Reborn felt like he was _glowing_ behind the mirror.

(Tsuna just wanted to cry.)

 _Extra:_

Shī considered the reports coming in from Japan—now most were given willingly by the still-spreading Sora, who had their sights set on conquering Tokyo before Tsunayoshi-sama returned from Mafia Land—and then considered the state of the Triads.

Most were disorganized, and Shī was fairly sure that many operated in a way that Tsunayoshi-sama would not approve of. He'd already expressed displeasure at having children too young to understand the concept of 'death' killing, and the way he'd done so had cited reasons not only moral but practical.

Shī had been firm with the First, and while the particularly promising children—like I-pin had been—were apprenticed out and occasionally contracted, he did not approve of sending them out if they weren't capable of defending themselves. However, if Tsunayoshi hadn't pointed out that having them kill before they understood the reality of what they were doing _meant_ , they likely would never understand the actual meaning of _taking life,_ and would end up a danger to ally as much as enemy, Shī would likely have let the long-standing way of handling things continue. (But that was a problem with some of his subordinates, and how had he not realized _why?_ )

As it was, the First wasn't as… _dark_ as some of the other Triads even before Tsunayoshi had gone through all their traditions and policies and changed things where he saw need, and since they were the leading Triad, it was Shī's duty to ensure that the others followed suit.

Since they were not subordinate to the First, however, that meant he'd have to bring them to heel.

Shī smiled to himself and called in his in-country spy network heads, pulled out the war map, and started making _plans._ (If the Momokyokai could do it, so then could the First Triad. They'd need to rename themselves later, of course, but for now there were Triads to conquer.)

 _xxxx_


	7. Western Dragon

Ta-da! First dragon. Because Xanxus deserves dragons.

Note: I am not going to use any Harry Potter magical creatures. I may use some that share names and some traits, but only if they exist in mythology or folklore from somewhere real. One of my biggest pet peeves with Rowling's work is that she mix-and-matched names and lore as well as making up her own, which I accept in her work but find downright frustrating in how it's warped general perspective on actual mythos and lore.

Second Note: I am not planning to introduce any mythological creature that is 'part human' (centaurs, merfolk of varying types, humanoid fey, etc.) in the near future, and any such that do appear will either appear briefly and not move into Namimori or refuse to be seen regularly by anyone but Tsuna. Any creatures that are _capable_ of speaking human languages will be intermittent characters, and those (like the dragon) whose lore doesn't agree from one area and/or era to the next on speech capability will summarily not speak any human language.

 ** _Western Dragon_**

 _Despite the naming, Western and Eastern Dragons don't have the same concepts attached to them. Western Dragons are generally depicted as giant, reptilian creatures with wings, most often indifferent towards people unless their territory is invaded or their 'hoard' (generally held to be gold/gems) threatened. Some legends have them being guards, others friendly towards people (Switzerland has some Nice!Dragon stories) some outright hostile. Most hold dragons to be intelligent, though few able to speak in human tongues, at least not the old stories.  
_

 _xxxx_

There was approximately one week of peace—well, as much peace as could be expected, between Tsuna's eclectic group of Elements, wrangling Sora affairs, reports from Shī on the First Triad pulling the same thing on the rest of the Chinese Triads that Sora was in Japan (and worse, for the same _reason_ ), and the occasional playful spat between a couple of tóngshī and an oversized wolf/orca (which was actually frustratingly hilarious when the tóngshī started it, as that generally involved the orca, a lot of saltwater, and several instances of digging squirming bronze out of wet sand)—before things got weird again.

The next bit started with some strange blond kid wielding Rain Flames and speaking _extremely_ out-of-date Japanese dropping down off a skyscraper while he'd been hanging out with Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei, Ryohei's sister Kyoko, and her friend Haru.

Tsuna still wasn't quite sure what to make of Haru and he had no idea why Reborn had invited her to Mafia Land with them. She'd adored Reborn for the first hour and then turned a weird sort of enmity on Tsuna for several days before abruptly turning nice.

… That probably had something to do with the unicorn. He was certain she'd seen her.

Anyway, blond kid was chased by a one-handed guy with long white hair and a sword as a prosthetic, and the kid was clearly in bad shape. The swordsman was hollering threats (it took Tsuna a few seconds to realize the threats were in Italian), and took a swipe at the kid while the locals screamed and scattered.

Tsuna groaned and moved to intervene as the kid scrambled back, ignoring Reborn's appearance off to the side.

The tóngshī had planted themselves at the sides of the café, waiting for Tsuna in their 'pretending to be statues' way, and they took his motion as a request to guard the kid.

Which it was, kind-of, but the male landing on top of the swordsman was a bit like overkill—or at least 'flatten'. The female dropped the cub at Tsuna's feet and pounced on the sword itself, biting it in half before pausing and biting it again, swallowing a mouthful of the metal before batting the rest to the cub and returning her attention to the man when he started cursing. (The cub started chewing his way through the bitten-off blade.)

Both adults growled at the one-handed stranger's increasing vitriol, in that echoing tone that was all the more unnerving for the fact that it came from living metal.

Tsuna sighed, "Please don't kill him, you two. We'll probably need to know what he was _thinking_ , forcing a Flame-fight in a populated area. Was he _trying_ to get himself arrested?"

The female—he really needed to hold another naming contest, just to increase the chances of them _agreeing_ to some—chuffed pointedly. Tsuna didn't know how he always understood them (or _Italian,_ for that matter), but he did. "Well, I know he's not worried about the _police,_ " he rolled his eyes, "I wasn't thinking of them. You'd think Vindice-set rules would mean something."

He liked the Vindice—their boss was bitter as all get-out, and his size and pacifier lead to _questions_ , but they were straightforward _._ Brutally so, and they didn't hide what they were going to do or when or why they were going to do it. Tsuna appreciated that in a person, and even more in a group.

The white-haired guy _stilled._

The male gave a questioning rumble.

Tsuna blinked and turned to Reborn, "I don't know; what do you think, Reborn?"

Reborn gave him a _look,_ "Tsuna, I don't speak Mythological."

Oh. Right, he spoke Insect and Reptile. "Ah, do you think I should call Bermuda?"

Reborn covered his eyes with one hand, making that sound he did every time Tsuna did something improbable. "I know I told you that you were going to be a mafia boss, but having the leader of the Vindice on speed-dial is _overkill_."

"I don't have him on _speed-dial!_ " Tsuna protested, "Besides, he's the one who offered his number!"

"Yes, because he's joined your cult _._ "

Tsuna kind of felt like crying, "He has _not!_ "

"Yes, he has," Reborn snorted, "We've been over this, Tsuna; handing three criminals into your custody and letting a fourth go with all charges dropped _just because you asked_ means he worships you at least as much as the Triads."

Tsuna made an inarticulate sound of frustrated horror and took advantage of the handy (speechless with shock) subject-change, "So, white-haired sword-wielding maniac and blond kid calling me '-dono' dropping from the sky—or 'skyscraper', as the case may be—and if this weren't Namimori people would have done more than scatter. What do we do about them?"

The female tóngshī chuffed hopefully.

" _No!_ You do _not_ feed the—he smells like live sharks? Why is 'live' an adjective there? No. No, stop distracting me, I don't care if he smells like sharks, you are _not_ teaching your cub to eat people. Besides, you're living metal and I've seen what you do to the recycling. Why would you _want_ to eat him?"

The male gave a barking chuff, shaking his metallic mane.

Tsuna stared for several seconds, "I know you guys are guardians and all, but eating attackers to _discourage further attempts_ is just—no. We're not doing this. We'll keep sword-guy—"

"Squalo," Reborn interjected, "Inverted Rain, belongs with Vongola's independent assassination squad, the Varia. Second-in-command."

"—we'll keep _Squalo_ in the holding cells—yes, you can guard him," he added to the hopeful tóngshī, "—and see about getting some answers."

Tsuna turned to the street, where he just _knew_ some of the Sora were moments away from intervening, "All right, can a few of you go with the tóngshī and get Squalo situated? I think our other guest needs medical assistance. Oh, and keep him away from the yakuza cells."

"Yes, Juudaime-sama!" was mingled with "Yes, Oyabun!" from the four who sheepishly came out of hiding.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the two he could still sense, but didn't comment, instead sitting their rescue-ee down and calling for a ride to the Vongola hospital.

It took a while for him to come out of the haze of confused shock and introduce himself, and when he finally did, all Tsuna could do was give a resigned sigh and prepare for coming chaos.

 _xxxx_

Of course it didn't end there. The leader of the Varia showed up less than a full day later in a blaze of fury and completely _wrong_ Flames, and only the fact that Tsuna had sensed him coming kept anyone from being _incinerated._ "Sora! Evacuate the area and mobilize defense for the city!" he ordered, dodging a barrage of knives from a Storm wearing a crown.

He heard several shouts of assent and his Yakuza scrambled to gather the civilians while Gokudera and Takeshi ran interference on the Varia elite, several of the Flame-trained Sora scattering out to handle the small fry Tsuna could sense descending on Namimori. A burst of Cloud from near the school said that was handled, and bell-chime hoofbeats announced the unicorn's arrival.

"Venna," he called to her (name, _finally,_ even if she'd refused ninety-eight percent of the ones offered) "Take care of the injured! We can handle this!"

She bugled a sound that was half affirmation and half protest, but whirled to follow the Sora while the crazy Storm and an equally crazy Sun balked on seeing her. Tsuna's Sun—the 'extreme' one, anyway—was across town, probably knocking out attackers from the feel of his Flames. Gokudera took the Lightning bulwark of a man at the _wrong_ Flames' side, Takeshi smothering the crazy Storm in a wash of Rain.

Squalo was safely held at the base with Fon, Skull, and the tóngshī, so he wasn't too worried on that front. That left the _wrong_ guy and the Mist, who—was aiming to catch the two Guardians he had with him in illusions.

"Agh, where're my Mists when I need them?" he grumbled, Harmonizing with the attempt and promptly disrupting it. (Between Reborn and the myths, Tsuna was getting quite capable with using his Flames in creative ways.)

Moeru thrilled a greeting, depositing Mukuro and Chrome in the middle of the fray with a burst of fire, and Tsuna gave a despairing wail as he lunged to deflect another shot of the broken Flames before it could hit either of his startled Mists.

He got a somewhat apologetic warble for that and made a sound of frustration while his two Mists got their bearings and promptly turned on the little one—Arcobaleno? Yes, glowing indigo Pacifier, there. That left him with the broken one.

He caught the next ball of not-right, his Harmony factor instinctively purifying it as he absorbed the power into his own Flame stores. Suddenly he was in what Reborn called 'Hyper Dying Will Mode', though it was really just a sustained visible Flame and glowing eyes as far as Tsuna was concerned.

The stranger _snarled,_ roaring at him in Italian.

Tsuna blinked, "Well of _course_ I did!" he shot back, "What would you have done if someone came crashing through _your_ territory waving a sword while spitting threats and chasing a _kid?_ He's fine, by the way. I've got him under guard back at the base."

The scarred man faltered, and it took Tsuna a moment to realize he'd answered in the language that one of the Sora had dubbed 'AllSpeak' after some American comic thing (he heard Reborn make his 'not _again'_ sound off to the side). An instant later, the man's fury only increased, and he flung more _not-right_ Flames out in a wash of destruction, and it was all Tsuna could do to catch them before they killed one of his Guardians.

Things got a bit complicated after that.

Tsuna wasn't sure the actual full sequence of events—later, he could only remember snatches, and he was pretty sure most of them weren't in order, except the end.

He'd knocked the man back over and over, and when he wouldn't _stop_ , Tsuna started to change his approach, Ice crackling where Flame had roared.

There was an instant where the angry man's eyes had reflected _terror_ and he couldn't bring himself to freeze him. This one was supposed to be one of his, one day, and he couldn't be so _cruel._

He nodded once and let his Flame flare once more, preferring to inflict physical trauma over mental.

The stranger kept struggling _,_ and Tsuna wasn't going to kill him or hurt him the way he'd realized the Ice would, because this man was—would be?— _important_ and he _would not harm him like that._

But he wouldn't _stop._

And then there was a roar, not the tóngshī but deeper, like forge-flame and angry bears instead of lions and the clash of bronze.

A shadow swept overhead, punctuated by a rush of wind and a slamming thud, and then there was a _dragon_ pinning the stranger down with a single, massive claw.

Tsuna heard Reborn make a despairing sound, and he himself had to cover his face briefly, only half exasperated. The dragon was western, with a lizard-like body and wings half-flared in threat, a somewhat shorter neck than he might have expected, and skin more like a reptile's than a fish's mail of a dark, earthy red.

"Thank you, dragon-san," Tsuna decided on. "I didn't want to have to hurt him. Ano… why are you here?"

The rumbled explanation made Tsuna groan, "Why?" he demanded of no one in particular, " _Why_ do so many supposedly mythological creatures insist on _finding_ me?"

The dragon rumbled again, and Tsuna blinked. That was… huh. Baffling explanation, there _._ He was going to have to look up northern European lore—he had never paid it much mind, and while he was pretty sure the term sounded very vaguely familiar, he didn't know what it actually _meant._

Tsuna's present Guardians took advantage of the utter gaping _shock_ of the interlopers—Varia, if the angry guy was Squalo-san's boss—and disarmed and restrained their opponents. "New friend, Tsuna?" Takeshi laughed, using what looked like lotus-flower-covered _vines_ to tie up the knife-wielding Storm, coating said vines (probably Mukuro's creations—Chrome was less ridiculous) in Rain Flames as he did so.

Tsuna sighed, glanced at the wide-eyed man still pinned by a dragon's paw (though it had somewhat retracted its claws on Tsuna's assertion of not wanting him hurt), and nodded. "Dragon-san wants to join the group. I don't know where we'll find the space for a home, though…"

The dragon rumbled again, brightly cheerful, and suddenly got a whole lot smaller while letting the now stunned-speechless man go.

Tsuna considered the winged creature now about the same size as Venna, and nodded. "That's going to make it much easier," he agreed.

Because dragon. _Why not?_

 _xxxx_

By the time Dino showed up with the real Vongola 'half-rings', Xanxus had given in and the Varia were being fairly well-behaved in the main Namimori Sora base, their leader grudgingly impressed by the size of Tsuna's still-young organization. This was only reinforced by Shī showing up _in person_ to report successfully unifying the Triads and asking what their new name should be.

Apparently, the Wrath Flame user—and Tsuna did _not_ approve of how damaged his Flames had been upon first showing up—really only wanted Vongola to be strong, which meant they needed a strong leader, which did _not_ mean 'clueless civilian'. Ergo, if Tsuna was rapidly taking over the entire East, he _must_ be a strong leader and Xanxus therefore had no problem with him, even if he didn't quite subscribe to Tsuna's methods.

Tsuna didn't care about Xanxus' approval nearly as much as he cared about Xanxus' health and demanded a full explanation of what had happened to make his Flames not only furious but _unstable._

Then he got very, _very_ angry with Vongola Nono.

Tsuna swept up his Guardians—whom he'd firmly stated that Lambo was too young to join yet while assuring Lambo that he was still loved—and the Varia and headed off to Italy with Reborn on one shoulder, Fon on the other, and Skull in his arms.

Reborn was looking forward to the coming chaos, even though he had a vague sense of dread for whatever new not-myth would show up. They seemed to be getting bigger.

(When Iemitsu arrived in Namimori, he was welcomed cheerfully by his wife, who introduced him to Fuuta, Lambo, and I-pin with his son nowhere in sight.

All a smiling Nana had to say about it was, "Oh, you didn't say you were coming, dear! Tsu-kun went on a trip with his friends!")

 _xxxx_


	8. Draugar

Couple things, both relevant: this chapter involves a 'should have seen that before' moment instead of a new myth. One that is, ironically and probably unintentionally, canon to KHR even not in this story. (Perhaps not quite as fun, but I felt they needed to be recognized.) Also, I'm starting to compile a bunch of canon-to-this-story side-stuff that doesn't really fit in properly but belongs all the same. I'm going to clean some of it up and start posting it in no particular chronological order aside from 'not outpacing this story' under the title of 'Mythos'. Next new myth will show up next chapter, but I'd been meaning to point out this for a while, and this was the first good place I had to do it in.

Also: Varia = Bad Language. Sorry!

 ** _Draugar_**

 _Norse undead. A draugr could come about in one of two ways: cursed to be so (the most hostile and least intelligent varieties were amongst these) or by sheer force of will. A refusal to die that was so strong that one's own dead body re-accepted the will thereof, and could be used in much the same way as a living body, though still dead. Draugar could be killed or otherwise 'die' a second time with the destruction of their bodies; whether by complete dismemberment, fire, decay, or other means._

 _xxxx_

Getting off the plane in Italy was simple enough, and Tsuna had several ideas about where he and his immediate Elements (not including Xanxus, who definitely hadn't admitted anything) could stay, though he was fully intending to offer the Varia a place with them.

Xanxus pre-empted it with a "Come on, brat. Let's get you and your lot set up in the Varia mansion."

Skull asked first. "Why not Vongola Headquarters?"

Xanxus snorted, "Because I don't trust the old man. He may not cause direct harm, but his security's shit. Just because no one's dumb enough to off him directly with Guardians as powerful as his, doesn't mean they won't take a shot or three at the kid."

Fon frowned slightly, "And you believe we would allow harm to come to Tsunayoshi-sama?"

"Fuck, no, and he ain't the kind of trash that needs protection, anyway. I just don't want to deal with cleaning up afterwards."

Tsuna grinned, understanding the subtext completely. Xanxus wanted him close by for exactly the same reason Reborn did; he was an overprotective bastard who didn't know how to express his feelings. That was fine. "Thanks, Xanxus. It saves me the trouble of arranging something else."

Xanxus grunted and jerked his head at his Rain, and Squalo shook himself. "Right, Boss. We'll have a couple vans here in ten minutes."

Tsuna glanced around, doing a headcount. He had Fon, Reborn, and Skull. Mammon was on Squalo's shoulder, and Levi was being all silent giant-y while Belphegor sulked beside him, clearly still smarting over the telling-off Tsuna had given him on the plane. (Xanxus had given him an interested look when the blood-crazed Storm had ended up slinking into the closest thing the plane had to a corner like a scolded puppy, knives confiscated and thoroughly dressed-down. Tsuna wasn't returning the knives until they were in the Varia mansion.)

Lussuria was next to Ryohei, and those two were either a great combination or a terrible one, and Tsuna was going to have to talk to Xanxus' Sun about keeping his fetishes _away_ from the boxer, because the Varia could be as twisted as they liked so long as they didn't hurt innocents or allies or infect his Elements with it. Gokudera was scowling heavily at Takeshi while Mukuro and Hibari glared at each other with dear, _wonderful_ Chrome keeping them from going for each others' throats in the middle of the Sicilian airport.

Tsuna considered the slowly rising tension and sighed, "If you guys don't settle down on your own, I'm going to end up having to douse you in so much Sky you'll end up Flame-drunk for _hours._ "

"That doesn't actually sound like a bad thing," Skull told him. "The plane ride was _awesome._ "

"You're small enough to be carried," Tsuna told him dryly. "The ones that's a threat for will have to try to walk, and I _know_ Reborn brought a video camera."

Xanxus snorted, "Brat, you have a scary mind."

Tsuna beamed at him, "Thanks, Xanxus! Reborn's been teaching me all about the merits of blackmail."

There were several whimpers of horror behind him, and Squalo snickered while Mammon nodded approvingly. Xanxus smirked, "Come on, brat. Gather your minions and follow me."

Tsuna huffed, "These are not my minions. Those are still in Japan," he paused, then conceded, "…and China. These ones are my… Elements."

"Not Guardians?"

"Eh, from what Reborn's said, that's mostly Vongola terminology, and I've got more than six anyway."

Xanxus tipped his head in acknowledgement. "Guardians just going to be the ones with the Rings, then?"

Tsuna nodded, "Gokudera-kun's the Storm, obviously, and Ryohei's got the Sun Ring. Hibari's my Cloud. Not sure what Mukuro and Chrome are doing—they kept the Ring split in half and each of them has one, which I don't mind, but since the Rings are part of the Tri-Ni-Sette that might not be safe long-term. Takeshi's got the Rain, and I know that Lambo wants the Lightning Ring, but I'm not going to let him have it until he's at least fifteen. I might need a stand-in for a while."

Skull's helmet thumped lightly against Tsuna's chest, the tiny Cloud jerking back upright with a odd little sound. Tsuna rolled his eyes and shifted his grip, tugging off the helmet and tossing it at Gokudera.

Startled, his Storm fumbled to catch it, "Juudaime?" he asked, clearly having been absorbed in his bickering with Takeshi.

Tsuna wondered when sniping arguments had become so much a part of his life that they were comfortable background noise. He didn't even _notice_ them anymore, and even Ryohei's volume had become a thing to tune out. His life, _why?_

Skull made a halfhearted sort of protest, and Tsuna held him like the baby he looked like, "Go back to sleep if you're that tired, Skull. We can manage without you for a while. Gokudera-kun, do you mind holding onto that for me for a while?"

Skull muttered something that ended in a sleepy 'great Skull-sama' while Gokudera took to the simple assignment with puppy-ish enthusiasm.

Xanxus wasn't the only member of the Varia staring, and Leon promptly turned into a baby-backpack, giving Reborn his own free-ride nap zone. Fon gave off a sense of 'pouting' and Tsuna rolled his eyes, "The news stand over there has baby slings if you really want one, Fon. And _how_ did I turn into Arcobaleno Mom?"

Xanxus snickered outright at that, and Chrome took it upon herself to go over to the stand.

"Get two of the damn things," Xanxus called to her, eying Tsuna appraisingly. "We can stick the Storm in one and the Cloud in the other."

Squalo snickered, too, "And the blackmail photos will be stupidly cute."

"Stupidly cute only works as blackmail if you're embarrassed by it," Tsuna informed in a perfect echo of Fon's usual serenity. "If I'm going to be Arcobaleno Mom, I am going to _rule_ it."

Mukuro cackled at the dumbfounded looks on most of the Varia, "Dear Tsunayoshi, you are truly impressively audacious."

"Balls of steel," Xanxus agreed, grinning. "Which of you trash has the video camera? I want this fucking _immortalized._ "

(Levi had the video camera, and he did indeed film Tsuna with Fon and Skull tucked in slings across his chest while Reborn's unruly puff of black hair showed over the green strap of Leon-carrier on one shoulder, fedora hung from the other Leon-carrier strap. Later, even Tsuna had to agree that, yes, it was stupidly cute. He also got a double-baby backpack for the return trip, since it would be easier to get around with only one sling hampering his arms.)

 _xxxx_

Travail was a lower-rung Varia. If one of the Elite gave an order, he obeyed. If Xanxus told him to shoot himself, he damn well _would,_ because it'd be a sight better than what _Xanxus_ would do to him for disobedience. Varia Quality meant loyalty, obedience, and a certain streak of ruthless efficiency that no other Vongola-associated subsidiary had.

But the Varia— _all_ the Varia—were loyal to Varia over Vongola _._

Except maybe Xanxus, who was loyal to Vongola over Nono _._

Either way, when everyone was ordered to mobilize in the mess—the only area of the training mansion in Sicily capable of holding all of them at once—and Xanxus and his five Guardians showed up arrayed loosely around seven teens, the Greatest Hitman Sun Arcobaleno Reborn, 'The Eye of the Storm' Arcobaleno Fon, and The Immortal Stuntman Cloud Arcobaleno Skull, he wasn't sure what to think.

The Varia 'training mansion' in Sicily did not get _guests._ Recruits, yes, but recruits were not introduced by the Elite. _Ever._

The silence was uneasy, and there were a good sixty assassins in the room.

"VOI, trash, listen up!" Squalo snapped, getting everyone to straighten sharply. They were assassins, not military—the posture was not a regulation requirement, but it was impossible to pretend to be relaxed with one of the Elite used _that_ tone.

"Che," Xanxus casually reached out and smacked his Rain upside the head hard enough to make him stumble forward, and one of the teens (a fluffy-looking brat that was weirdly reminiscent of Vongola Primo) gave him a _look._ Xanxus took a step forward, rolling his eyes, "Brat. Get where everyone can see you."

'Brat' did something horrifying _._ He rolled his eyes right back, "Xanxus, this is completely unnecessary."

Xanxus scowled, caught the kid by the scruff of his shirt, and pushed him forward, not nearly as roughly as he'd smacked his Rain. "These are _mine,_ brat, and I'd rather not have to kill one for laying a hand on you."

The kid twisted to eye the much larger man oddly, "Do you think they'd actually be a problem?"

"After how you threw _me_ around? Fuck, no, but it's a matter of principle."

Threw _Xanxus_ around? Impossible—the kid was a twig!

"Who said that?" Xanxus snapped, eyes sharp and hard and gleaming.

"It's not like he's wrong _,_ Xanxus," the kid pointed out. "I _am_ a twig."

Oh, god, Travail had said that out _loud?_

Scowling, the Wrath turned his glare on the kid, who only shrugged unrepentantly back. "Fine," he bit out. "Trash! This is Sawada Tsunayoshi. He's the Decimo. He asks you a question, you answer. He gives you an order, you obey. He tells you to go against _my_ orders, you fucking _obey._ You lay a hand on him, you die. Kid's _my_ Sky, and you'll treat him like it."

Xanxus'… but Xanxus _was_ a Sky! Was that even—it's not like the man would _lie_ about something like that, but _how?_

"Transcendent," Squalo coughed, grinning behind a fist.

… wasn't that a myth? Or, rather, a scientific theory that it was highly doubted that anyone would ever be able to prove, because first you'd have to find a Sky both strong and pure enough, _and_ have them compatible enough to Harmonize the weaker Sky?

Which had apparently just been proved. With _Xanxus._ Travail wasn't the only one a little wide-eyed. He also wasn't the only one to squeak out a "Yes, sir," in response to the scalding glare sweeping over the mess.

That was apparently that, and Xanxus turned on his heel and walked out, the Decimo huffing as he turned to follow. "So impatient."

Travail felt the hysterical urge to giggle. It was true; Xanxus—all of the Elite, really— _was_ impatient, but hearing such a tiny teen say it like that, all resigned exasperation like a fond parent was a little surreal.

Oh, god. Decimo was **_Xanxus' Sky_** _._ That was **_terrifying._**

 _xxxx_

Tsuna considered, jogging a few steps to catch up with his apparently overprotective newest Element while Luss-nee and Levi vanished down an adjoining hall, Belphegor staying behind for food. "Xanxus, I need an… _audience_ with the Nono. Would you like to come?"

Xanxus' stride faltered only slightly. "You want me to, brat?"

Tsuna shrugged, "That's not the question, Xanxus. Do _you_ want to? Because I'd welcome you if you do, but if you'd rather not see him, I can bring someone else."

Xanxus eyed him speculatively, "I'd rather you didn't meet up with the old man without me."

"So, you don't want to see him, but you don't trust him enough to let him near me without supervision. All right. We'll work out who should come tonight, then. No more than six, I think, not including Reborn. You, of course. Hm… I'm half tempted to ask if Bermuda can spare Jager…"

Reborn growled on his shoulder. "Tsuna. _Stop inviting Jager._ "

"Who's Jager?" Squalo asked from behind.

"The Vindice second-in-command," Fon replied serenely, and there was a audible stumble, a thud, and a lot of cursing immediately following that information.

Tsuna turned to see the Varia Elite Rain on the floor with Mammon standing on his back while Tsuna's own group blinked at them in confusion. "What's the problem, haha?" Takeshi asked, grinning at the assassins. "Sure, Jager's not their leader, but Bermuda's just too busy to come himself, most of the time."

(Xanxus kept his mouth shut, not wanting to say something stupid. The kid had everything from unicorns to assassins flocking to him; why not Vindice?)

"Someone owes me money for taking out my transportation," Mammon informed flatly, drifting up to land on Ryohei's shoulder and ignoring the 'extreme' greeting for the personal space intrusion.

"Jager's nice to Kaa-san," Tsuna decided to ignore everything but Reborn's order, which he addressed directly, "and Kaa-san likes having guests. I'm not going to stop inviting him over just because he's a draugr."

It had taken some research to find a type of undead that applied to the Vindice, but the old Norse draugar fit the bill.

"What the hell's a draugr?" Xanxus asked.

"What the Norse called their undead. Well, singular; plural is 'draugar'. There were two kinds—the cursed kind and the kind like the Vindice, where their Will was strong enough to bring what they called the 'hugr' back to the body. It sounded like the same thing as Dying Will, even though they considered it more animate or _moving_ will," Tsuna explained cheerfully. "From what I've managed to get Bermuda to tell me, he's that kind, and it's his Flames that brought back the others, so Jager's really more like a cross between a zombie and a draugr, but still."

Reborn covered his eyes with one hand, sighing. "Of _course_ they're _undead_."

Tsuna blinked, "What?"

Gokudera whipped out a notebook and started scribbling, muttering to himself as he did so while Hibari scoffed and looked away, the present Varia not quite sure what to make of this particular information while Ryohei declared that Bermuda was very extreme.

Mukuro chuckled again, "The Sun Arcobaleno is right; it all makes sense now, dear Tsunayoshi."

Xanxus went back to striding down the hall with an expression very much like that Tsuna had seen frequently on Reborn the first few months after Venna had shown up. "Fuck this, I'm _done_. We don't get paid enough to deal with this shit."

Tsuna hummed thoughtfully. Xanxus really was being a good sport about all the worldview-shifting, and Xanxus _was_ his, now—acknowledged in front of a large gathering of lower-ranked Varia, at that. He should see about getting the poor man some kind of bonus.

(Reborn, on the other hand, deserved every minute of confusion-induced shock for being such a crazy chaos-inciter every chance he got.)

"Dame-Tsuna, I heard that."

Tsuna only grinned. (Oh, gods, Reborn was _contagious._ )

Reborn smirked smugly, reaching up to pat Tsuna's head. "You are learning well, my student."

Tsuna refused to feel bad about the horrified sounds from several of his Guardians as he trotted off after Xanxus.

They'd be fine with some sleep. _He_ had other things to worry about, like figuring out who to bring with him to _talk_ to Timoteo Vongola when 'talking' was synonymous with 'dressing down for incompetence with family' which, according to everything Reborn had told him about Vongola and where Timoteo had been trying to go with it, was also synonymous with 'not worthy to lead Vongola'.

But Xanxus was _Tsuna's_ and Timoteo had failed not only Xanxus, but Tsuna and his three blood-sons. Clearly he wasn't good enough to keep a handle on an entire Famiglia if he couldn't even watch over his own personal family.

(Tsuna didn't particularly _want_ to include Vongola in his growing empire, for all that he'd have to eventually, but if that was what it took to ensure decent treatment for his own—which included the Varia, as Xanxus'—then that's what he would do.)

 _xxxx_

Xanxus' decision to claim the Brat as his Sky had been near painful, if he were honest with himself. And he was—Xanxus wasn't the kind of coward to lie to himself, even when he fucking _longed_ to. Now that he was thinking a damn sight more clearly—the Brat's doing, he had no doubt, because the Brat had linked to his Flames and done _something_ that… he hadn't felt so stable since he'd been a brat himself. The roiling uneasy flickers that had made it _damn_ hard to use his Flames for anything other than blazing destruction had been settled, and the Brat looked at him like he was something to be protected.

Xanxus didn't _need_ the Brat's protection; he could damn well handle himself. But the Brat was acting less like he needed it and more like he _deserved_ it, and the hard edge to that terrifyingly vast expanse of Sky whenever anyone mentioned the old man was…

Nice.

Not that Xanxus was going to be admitting that out loud any time soon. No need to hand over blackmail to the kiddie crew and Arcobaleno. (Brat'd probably only be happy about it and never mention it to another soul, but Xanxus didn't trust any of the rest of them—or his own Guardians—not to hold it over his head _forever._ )

Still, the entirety of his Varia had taken the announcement in the spirit of 'oh, god, Decimo's terrifying' over 'Boss is losing his touch', which Xanxus could work with without blowing any limbs off.

That said, if the Sun Arcobaleno was groaning in realizing exasperation over the Vindice being _undead_ (he'd had seen the Vindice, and that might actually explain a lot) instead of, oh, telling the Brat he was nuts… Xanxus didn't actually _want_ to know the stories behind anything but the dragon. And _dragon._ Fucking actual _real_ _ **dragon.**_

Just. What was _with_ the kid? It wasn't even _just_ the dragon—he'd seen the hou-ou (hadn't known what it _was,_ but seen it dropping the Brat's dual Mists into the fight) and the fucking _unicorn_ (which the Brat had him sit still in front of so it could look him over, and looked relieved and happy when it had whickered at him before trotting off), and the tóngshī at the doors outside the holding cells had stood up and _greeted_ the Brat when he'd been leading Xanxus to a very grumpy Squalo. And then there was the bit about an akhlut, whatever the hell that was. All Xanxus knew was what the Arcobaleno had said, which was 'man-eating whale-wolf'.

Yeah, Vindice being some kind of undead Norse monster? Completely reasonable in comparison.

Also, the admonition the tiny Sun had given of 'Tsuna, try to go at least one trip without bringing home any more supposedly mythological creatures'? Fucking _scary._

(Xanxus wasn't going to say it, but he did _not_ want to know. He had the feeling even the unicorn would happily skewer him if anything happened to the Brat on his watch, and it hadn't even been looking at him like a _threat!_ )

"Venna's a girl," the Brat informed absently, and Xanxus was _sure_ he hadn't said anything out loud.

The Arcobaleno on his shoulder _smirked._

"Fuck it, you know what? I'm not even asking," finally at their general destination, Xanxus shoved open the door to the Elite's wing and gestured down the much shorter hall on the other side, "Three doors down the hall on the left, set of unused suites that're yours as long as you want 'em. Mine're across the hall from 'em, and Squalo and the rest are scattered about. There should be enough space for all of you, and so long as you don't bust down any load-bearing walls, you can do what you want with 'em. Get settled, then get back to me on picking your escorts for tomorrow."

The Brat gave him a smile that was all sunshine and rainbows (Xanxus had to blink a few times to be sure he wasn't actually seeing drifting sparkles) and thanked him chirpily before herding his entire lot of overpowered pipsqueaks down the hall.

Squalo slid up beside him quietly, a disgruntled Mammon on his shoulder. "You know, Boss, that kid's fucking scary."

Yeah. He'd already noticed that.

"You think I'd settle for anything _less?_ "

Brat was his Sky, after all, and Xanxus was a _Wrath._

 _xxxx_


	9. Khe-ti

Eh. I didn't have as much fun with this one, but it contains details that will be relevant later, so. I must have rewritten it a half dozen times, and I have some deleted scenes that will likely end up in 'Mythos'. So. There is that.

 ** _Khe-ti_**

 _A cobra-like serpent of Ancient Egypt, a creature of a power that was referred to with a name that, ironically for this fandom, translates most closely to 'flame'. The y'rt—called the Uraeus, a Romanized derivation—on the varying king-crowns was named not after the serpent itself or the protective goddess Wadjet who preferred a cobra-form, but rather after the action of rearing up to spit. This serpent was used as a recognizing symbol of the rightful king. (The term 'pharaoh' did not come into use until the Romans got involved, as the words it was derived from 'pr a'h' translate roughly to 'house of the lord' or 'house of the king' and was originally used to refer only to the royal home, that is: the palace itself.) While it is likely that the serpent in question was the Egyptian spitting cobra, and they simply attributed the way it spat its venom as invisible fire for the_ burning _it caused, they were still believed to be a line of defense for the king, spitting their invisible fire against threats on the spiritual plane, even when cast from metal or carved from stone. A_ live _one, though… well. That would be quite an endorsement, when the image at least was almost a_ requirement _of being recognized as ruler._

 _xxxx_

Tsuna woke to an unfamiliar weight settling on his chest, and he spent a few seconds blinking at the unexpected lidless reptilian eyes right in front of his face. It was the earlier side of sunrise, the still-greyish light filtering in though the window and letting Tsuna get a look at the very large snake in the middle of hampering his breathing.

He could tell a few things: one, it was big—he couldn't tell how long, with how it coiled on his chest, but it had to weigh at least twelve kilos. Two, it was darker on top of its head than beneath, the pattern of the hood flaring out from just below the back of the jaw down its raised neck nearly a circle of paler color that he couldn't quite distinguish in the low light.

And three, it was dangerous. Because hood meant cobra, and cobra meant _deadly_.

These things all registered in the space of less than a full second, and it turned out yelping in shock was a bad idea. Either startled or angered by the sudden sound and motion of his chest, it reared back further before lunging forward, its jaw clamping shut over the junction of his shoulder, and Tsuna had an instant to register the sharp ridge of its teeth* cutting into his throat before his world dissolved in fire.

 _xxxx_

Squalo was pretty sure he'd never been more terrified in his _life_ than when he'd gotten into the Decimo's room (if _Xanxus_ wasn't calling the kid 'trash', no way in hell was Squalo going to even _think_ anything insulting in his direction) only to see his crazy Wrath Boss-Sky staunching a bleeding wound on Decimo's fucking _throat_ with the Sun Arcobaleno cursing and _failing to heal it_. Then Xanxus had snapped at him to go for the medics, and he'd gone. Fucking _sprinted._

Because Decimo might have been a tiny little twig with a too-big heart and a too-sweet smile, but he was Squalo's Sky's Sky, and if he _died_ …

If he died, Xanxus would fucking _break._ And if Xanxus broke, the rest of them would follow, and the whole damn _world_ would burn.

(Squalo hadn't waited for _ten years_ for the chance to save his Sky just to lose him all over again, and in a way he wouldn't ever get him back from.)

Thankfully, things were less tense when he made it back with their med crew, the Arcobaleno having managed to seal the wound and the venom mysteriously gone while the very much alive snake that he'd been pretty sure had been dead before coiled beneath the bed.

Which. Didn't make a lot of sense, but he was getting the distinct impression that was going to be a theme with the crazy little Transcendent. The living bronze lions had been a weird introduction, but the follow-up of a flaming multicolored bird with a back like a turtle-shell and a peck like a jackhammer had let him guess that it was going to be a trend. (At least he recognized the fucking unicorn. Also, it had eyed him before rather pointedly putting its horn to the concrete wall across from his holding cell in something that was very obviously a threat. Which… okay, unicorn was apparently _not_ a pansy myth. Horn sliding _slowly_ into concrete was a good way of proving it could poke a massive bleeding hole through his chest just fine if it wanted to.)

So, yeah. Not questioning the not-dead snake hanging out like it was best buds with everyone in the fucking room even though it had just about killed the little Sky.

Also not questioning how none of the kid's group—and that very obviously included Xanxus—let him out of their sight as the medics checked him over (with the Sun Arcobaleno pointedly not moving from where he sat on the kid's chest). On determining the two experienced Suns that had already been in the room were correct in that the only thing still wrong with the kid was shock-inducing levels of hypovolemia, Xanxus scooped him up (Arcobaleno and all) and directed Lussuria at the very much ruined bed like the maid he might as well be even as he strode out the door.

Squalo trailed after his Boss, ignoring how Luss grumbled over the state of the bloodied sheets and mattress behind him and how all the brats not half-dead from blood loss duckling-lined behind him as the Cloud Arcobaleno hitched a ride with the brat-Sun and the Storm settled in the brat-Cloud's hold.

Shit, he'd only been awake fifteen minutes and he was _already_ exhausted. Panic was bad for his health.

(At least all Decimo needed was a transfusion. He'd lost a lot of blood, but the injury had been shallow and healed cleanly. Throat was tricky, but Luss was no slouch and Reborn was _Arcobaleno._ If they and the medics all said healed and no complications, then he'd be completely fine once his blood volume was normal. He wouldn't even need to delay his plans for busting in on Nono—although Xanxus might make him anyway.

Squalo wouldn't even blame him. Kid wasn't even Squalo's Sky and he was shaking in retroactive fear. Dio, that had been _terrifying._ If Decimo never got hurt again, it would _still_ be too soon.)

 _xxxx_

"Reborn, Xanxus, I'm _fine,_ " Tsuna huffed, exasperated. Of course the two most violent people he knew would also be the most protective—or _overprotective,_ in this case. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll ask Moeru to bring Shī and Kuro. I'll even ask Mukuro to play escort from the shadows. I don't need to take today off."

Xanxus narrowed his eyes, "You'll still bring the rest of us?"

It was only half question. "You two, Squalo-san, Gokudera, Fon, Skull, and Mammon-san," he'd wanted to bring a somewhat different group, but only Gokudera and Mukuro amongst his younger Elements actually knew Italian, and Mukuro might be officially under Tsuna's care but he was still a known face and might trigger a 'shoot first' response. Which left him having most of his Guardians on standby and his Arcobaleno and Xanxus as the most practical escorts. Squalo and Mammon, too, because they were Xanxus' and more levelheaded than Bel, less fanatical than Levi, and lacking Lussuria's flamboyance.

Also, because that meant they'd have four of the Arcobaleno with them, and that was a pretty solid show of force even without any of the rest.

Reborn considered, "If you have the bird nearby for emergency transportation, I will accept that."

Tsuna nodded, "I'll also talk to the others about being on standby. Hopefully it won't be necessary, but if the Nono decides to be unreasonable I'd rather force a concession now than start the equivalent of a civil war."

Xanxus grinned and Reborn smirked slightly, "In that case, I'll call and break the contract I have with the Nono. It means giving up my right to requisition Vongola personnel and supplies, but would free me to act without contractually-enforced repercussions should things get out of hand. I do have the right to terminate the contract at any time, after all."

Tsuna nodded, understanding what wasn't being said. Reborn _liked_ the idea of being able to fight for him, that much was all too obvious in the glint of his eye and the tone of his voice. The drawbacks probably wouldn't even be a problem. "Well, now that Shī's united the Triads and Sora's almost finished taking over Japan, I'm not sure we even _need_ Vongola resources. They might occasionally be useful, but mostly when we're in Europe."

Xanxus made a sound that was a weird mix of disgruntlement and satisfaction. "Never thought I'd hear someone talk about Vongola as extraneous. Fuck, never thought I'd _agree._ "

Tsuna considered for a moment, "Do you think you could get your lot to tone down on the language a bit? Especially Squalo?"

Xanxus paused, clearly thinking through his response and more than a little dubious. "I'll talk to 'em, but I'm not making promises. Not even for myself."

"I'm not asking for miracles," Tsuna smiled slightly, "Just… try to tone it down around my Guardians. I don't want them picking it up and bringing it home to the kids."

Xanxus snorted, "You really _are_ a mom."

And he couldn't even refute that. He had very much taken the 'mom' role for his Elements, and even if it earned him a demeaning nickname, he would not regret it. It was quite obvious that they _needed_ a mom—and as much as Tsuna loved his, she was a bit airheaded. If he didn't have Fuuta in the house and quite a few Yakuza wives ready and willing to help out, he wouldn't have felt entirely comfortable leaving Lambo and I-pin in Japan without him.

Tsuna huffed, folding his arms. "At least I do a good job of it," he decided aloud.

 _Reborn_ snorted at that one and Xanxus barked a laugh, "Come on, brat. Let's round up who we need while the Arcobaleno makes his call."

Tsuna smiled, pleased with how the amusement eased some of the lingering tension from their shoulders and hopped off the infirmary bed to trot off beside Xanxus, needing to take two steps for every one of his. (Why were all the Italians so _tall?_ )

 _xxxx_

Timoteo glanced up when his Mist/'secretary of the day' frowned at the phone in his hand before passing it to him with a single name in explanation—a name that made Timoteo's heart drop, because Reborn didn't _call._

"Reborn?" he asked warily as he took the phone from Croquant, not sure what to expect. If Tsuna had been hurt—Xanxus had taken off with a number of the Varia, but he'd been reported as returned almost as quickly, so Timoteo had dared hope that he'd mistaken his adoptive son's intent towards the boy.

" _Nono,_ " Reborn's reply was perfectly even. " _I am terminating the tutoring contract._ "

Timoteo reeled. "Why? What happened?" he was within his rights to do so, no matter the reason. Reborn had refused to sign a tutoring contract without a clear door out of it, and if for some reason he and Tsunayoshi had been a truly bad fit, that would have been much safer for everyone. But he hadn't called it off in the several months he'd been in Namimori, so something must have happened.

" _Tsuna's my Sky._ "

That was not the expected response. Timoteo had feared a wide range of responses, but that… no one had even come _close_ to Harmonizing with Reborn, and a fair number had tried. As far as Timoteo knew, not even Luce—the Arcobaleno Sky who had died of illness and first been grouped with Reborn and the others thirty-odd years before—had. She'd not Harmonized with any of them, actually, but Lal Mirch had admitted that she'd had that sort of half-there Harmony that was all most Skies could manage with secondary Elements if they already had a bond of that Flame-type. All but Reborn and Colonnello had shown signs of it, according to the CEDEF second-in-command, and Colonnello hadn't actually been a part of the original group.

Reborn had been there, but had been too strong. Timoteo's mother had tried to draw the Sun Arcobaleno in, and Timoteo had as well, in his prime. So had most of his sons. The Vongola Skies were heralded as the strongest for good reason, but none of them had even come near taming the blaze of Reborn's Sun.

And now a fourteen-year-old _child_ had.

"I see," Timoteo managed around his lingering shock. "I will terminate the contract, then. I suppose I'll also need to seek another tutor…" it was generally a bad idea to have a Guardian tutor their own Sky, especially in regards to combat.

" _File me as one of his Suns,_ " Reborn instructed, " _Currently, he has eleven confirmed Elements and two more that are partially bonded._ "

Eleven. Almost _thirteen._ Timoteo had a full set and Luce had been strong enough for that and partial bonds to an additional five, but she had been the chosen _Arcobaleno_ Sky, and even then it was six confirmed and five partials. Never had he heard of more than seven full bonds, and this…

Well.

"… That is quite impressive," Timoteo admitted, trying to wrap his mind around the information.

" _Tsuna is impossible,_ " Reborn informed, sounding both exasperated and fond, and then there was what sounded like semi-distant shouting on the other end of the line and Reborn huffed in annoyance. " _Those idiots,_ " he growled, " _After this morning-! Excuse me, Nono, I need to go shoot some people._ "

Timoteo blinked as the line clicked, not sure if he should feel sorry for whoever had earned the hitman's ire. He sighed and handed the phone back to his visibly curious Mist, digging through his desk for his copy of Reborn's contract and hand-scrawling 'Terminated' across it in red pen with a note of 'Harmonization' as the reason.

Croquant leaned over to see what he was writing and choked.

Timoteo grimaced, capping his pen, "My thoughts exactly," he agreed. How was he going to find someone else to tutor the boy? They'd have to be able to stand up to _Reborn!_

 _xxxx_

Reborn stood over the majority of the Varia Elite, Hibari, Ryohei, and—unexpectedly—Takeshi and Fon. Xanxus had Tsuna shuffled half behind him by a firm hand on his scruff and Gokudera had his head in his hands next to the Wrath, clearly so exhaustedly exasperated that Reborn was starting to think he was going into—what was it, UMA overload? He'd been so excited about the unicorn and additions to the mythological menagerie (Tsuna had asked him why he was calling them 'unidentified' when they clearly weren't, and the explanation had made Reborn's head spin with the ridiculous, not-thought-out _enthusiasm_ ), but it was looking like he was starting to hit chaos saturation point.

Skull had small arms wrapped firmly around Tsuna's shin (Tsuna looked longsuffering) and Mammon was sitting disgustedly on Xanxus' shoulder, the grumbles about wasted effort for no return the only evidence of the disgust.

Xanxus looked mostly amused. A little disgruntled (he must have acted on sheer instinct, moving Tsuna away from the chaos without stopping it), but mostly amused.

Leon turned back into a lizard and Reborn hopped off the back of Takeshi's head, making sure to give him and Ryohei both reproving kicks. He didn't know why or how Fon had gotten involved, but Hibari was a lost cause so kicking him would be wasted effort.

Fon pulled himself out of the pile, shooting a dark look at the Varia Storm as he quite deliberately used a crowned blond head as a springboard to get out of the mess of limbs. He landed next to Reborn, "I admit you are better with control of rowdy crowds," he informed, switching back to serene.

Ah. Fon was good, but most of his larger or potentially multi-target attacks _were_ somewhat… not for use indoors. Or on allies, and the risk of catching Tsuna's Guardians would have prevented the use of his Flames, Fon being such a powerful Storm.

Chaos Shot, however, was targeting, multi-target, and of adjustable, non-disintegrating power—with only seven targets, it was easy to be very precise. Reborn _could_ crank the heat up enough for it to flash-burn things to ash, but that took intent. He could forgive Fon getting caught up, seeing as how he had no doubt the Storm had been pleased for the chance to work off a little of the earlier tension.

And Tsuna had been safely out of the way. Even so, Reborn was displeased with the earlier close call and knew perfectly well that Tsuna still had a headache. "Right, you idiots. If you want to make noise, take it somewhere else. Tsuna is out of danger, but if he's going to be at his best later, he still needs some rest."

Fon abruptly turned his eyes to the floor, ashamed. Reborn didn't draw attention to it. Hibari gave a soft 'che' and looked away, Takeshi wincing and Ryohei drooping in obvious dejection as they untangled themselves.

Squalo also winced, but his eyes flicked towards where Xanxus had lost the amusement in favor of annoyance, and the rest of the Elite in the pile did more-or-less the same.

Reborn nodded, satisfied that they'd be quiet for a while. "Tsuna, have you called your minions?"

Tsuna shook his head, "My phone's still in the room."

"I'll call them for you, then," Reborn decided. "You just worry about the bird. And ask him if he can bring the unicorn by—have her take a look at you."

It turned out that Moeru _could_ , in fact, bring Venna. (Tsuna later said the bird said there were limits with other myths. Specifically, they couldn't be of opposing alignments, either elementally or spiritually, which meant that the akhlut and likely the tóngshī were stuck in Japan. The unicorn was compatible enough with the hou-ou for transport.)

She landed in front of them in a flash of fire and skidding hooves, took one look at Tsuna, and planted the tip of her horn against the middle of his forehead.

Tsuna gave a relieved-sounding groan, closing his eyes. "Thanks, Venna. That's much better."

The unicorn whickered and took a half step back, tossing her head and turning a critical eye on her surroundings.

Reborn was just glad she hadn't stabbed Tsuna in the chest again. Rationally he knew it was unlikely that she would hurt him, but… the image was more than a little disturbing.

Squalo took a very careful step away from the pale form as she stamped lightly, hoof chiming sharply, the line of his shoulders easing a little as he muttered something under his breath.

Mammon tilted a hood-covered head, "I wonder how much people would pay for a picture of a unicorn with the Varia?"

Well. At least some things never changed.

 _xxxx_

 _*Unlike vipers and adders (including rattlesnakes, copperheads, moccasins, lanceheads, and bushmasters alongside a wide range of other venomous snakes), cobras have a number of teeth that more resemble short knives than what most Americans think of as 'snake fangs', meaning they have to both tear skin and hold on long enough for their venom to make it into the resulting wounds in order to envenom what they bite. The average cobra-bite looks more like someone put blades to a mouse trap than puncture marks. That's not to say that they don't_ have _fangs, only that the carriage of venom from their tiny venom-carrying fangs to flesh is fairly inefficient, and their non-fang teeth do much of the physical damage that allows the venom into a bite._

 _Also, biggest pet peeve in fiction regarding snakes: **snakes do not have eyelids!** There are a few - _ very _few - legless lizards that_ look _like snakes that have eyelids, but they are - because of the eyelids and a few other small physiological differences - classed as_ lizards. _I love snakes. I've raised a variety of them. Venomous snakes are not legal to import to my state, as there are none native and de-venoming does not mean they are unable to breed, but my grandfather was involved in raising rattlesnakes to milk for venom in Arizona (for making antivenoms) and they're kind of a family obsession.  
_


	10. Interlude II

_Right, then. Here's what was meant to be the second half of the last chapter, but there were some issues with it. Now it is here, and will not have any new critters._

 ** _Interlude II_**

"So," Squalo waited until his Boss had herded the mini-Boss out with most of said mini-Boss' Elements. And that terminology was weirdly catching—sounded better than 'Guardians' for them, too. Varia were assassins, and the Elite generally went by that instead of 'Guardian', but Squalo knew he was Xanxus' Rain and thinking of himself as one of Xanxus' _Elements_ was a hell of a lot better than one of his _Guardians,_ because Xanxus didn't need fucking _guarding._ He was stronger than the rest of them, that's how he _got_ Squalo.

Luss, whose arrival had prompted the evacuation of the pipsqueaks (they were Japanese and Arcobaleno; wasn't _his_ fault that generally meant 'tiny') as it meant he had dealt with the bloody mess that had been mini-Boss' sleeping quarters, only looked back at him with a lot less flamboyant enthusiasm than usual.

"Snake. The hell is up with the _snake?_ "

Lussuria coughed slightly, casting a glance at where said snake was disappearing around the corner after mini-Boss and co, the unicorn sidestepping it carefully with the multicolored bird on its back. "Ah, when Tsunayoshi-kun woke, he said it had been 'testing' him. It did not attempt to harm the Boss for manhandling it, and Flames weren't effecting it at all, so…" Luss shrugged, lips curling in a baffled smile, "Boss let it go?"

Squalo tried to figure that out and promptly gave up. Teleporting multicolored bird and unicorn. Snake that looked like it was not entirely normal. Man-eating whale-wolf monster (Squalo hadn't seen it, and was inclined to think that was a good thing because if the fucking _unicorn_ was scary, he didn't want to know what qualified as 'monster') and living bronze statues. Decimo's crew just didn't make any sense, and if Squalo ever started thinking otherwise, it would be _proof_ that he'd cracked.

"I'm not even going to fucking _ask,_ " Squalo decided. "Shit, that's just… no. I'm going to go through the mission reports while Decimo rounds up his out-of-country escorts, and we'll crash Vongola Mansion in a couple hours."

The Peacock just nodded, clearly as thrown by the fact that there were some seriously odd guests in with the Varia, and that wasn't even including the animals. When those got brought into the equation, Squalo was pretty sure it meant reality had broken somewhere and Decimo had decided to take full advantage.

(Holy shit, that kid had a _dragon._ It wasn't in Italy, thank God for small mercies, but holy _shit._ **_Dragon._** )

 _xxxx_

Tsuna settled back on the bed—he was pretty sure it had a new mattress as well as new sheets and blankets—resigning himself to all of his Elements hovering in varying states of nervous energy.

At least only his Arcobaleno, Xanxus, and Mukuro had witnessed the actual injury, instead of just the immediate aftermath. Apparently the whole 'bleeding out from the throat' thing had only lasted about three minutes, and by the time majority of his teen Elements had woken and stumbled into his room, Reborn had already managed to heal the wound.

It had felt like a lot longer than three minutes to him, though, and not at all in the same way. He remembered waking, getting bitten, a wash of fire that was more _heat_ than _pain_ and then—well. It hadn't been a dream, quite. But it had been _something._

Stone pillars and open walls, desert-gold, pyramids gleaming white against the horizon, the soft lap of water to the opposite side. Something that smelled fresh and sweet and earthy on the breeze—and a large cobra coiled before him, hood flared and showing the bright ruby circle under its chin.

The hiss revealed her as female, and she demanded answers he couldn't help but give, demanded strength he wanted to keep tucked inside his soul but blazed out in sunset-gold, eclipsing the noonday light from the desert outside.

Said something about a test passed an instant before Mukuro was standing beside him, his crimson eye's pupil flicking between the kanji for six, one, three, and two as indigo Flame licked across his fingers.

The following hiss had been both startled and impressed—Tsuna caught 'What strong acolytes you have'—before he was waking up with all the Flame that he'd been forced to show in that not-quite- _real_ place following him back to reality.

He'd jolted upright before realizing how badly he was bleeding, Xanxus snatching the not-cobra out of the air as Reborn glowed yellow before hopping back up onto the bed from where he'd been sent sprawling by the force of Tsuna's quickly reigned-in Flames.

Hands on his throat, small and _warm,_ and the dizziness hadn't abated but the bleeding _had,_ and then there were a lot more people and it had become kind of hard to follow what had been going on. He remembered saying something in response to some kind of question, but…

Yeah, he'd definitely been delirious from blood loss. He couldn't hold it against everyone that they were so jumpy. And he was pretty sure the only reason no one had tried to kill the snake—a 'khe-ti', she had called herself—again was because Moeru and Venna were both there and unbothered by her scaly presence.

Although when she made her way back in the general direction of the bed, Moeru thrilled reprovingly and Venna pointedly planted a delicate hoof on top of the suddenly sulking serpent's head.

Everyone looked in that direction for a moment, and Xanxus and Reborn exchanged something a lot like commiserating glances before blatantly deciding to ignore the supernatural animals entirely.

Tsuna very carefully didn't coo at them.

(The rest of the people in the room, including Fon and Skull, were slightly more curious about the new addition but clearly uncertain about questioning Tsuna while he still had two overprotective assassins hovering next to him. Rather than waiting for said questions, Tsuna waved his eclectic group closer and explained what had happened.

Reborn's flat comment on bites to the _throat_ not counting as testing had said snake twisting from under Venna's hoof to hide her head under her own coils, clearly ashamed of herself and hissing dismayed apologies.

Reborn stared at her for approximately three seconds before facepalming, muttering disparaging things under his breath.

Tsuna couldn't quite stop himself from scooping him up and cuddling him, and all Reborn did was grumble and lean into it.)

 _xxxx_

"Call us if you need us, haha!" Takeshi waved, shinai slung over his shoulder. Tsuna wondered if he'd shown that thing to Squalo, yet—a bamboo-slat sword that 'turned into' a live blade with use of a specific type of sword-style would probably catch his interest.

Tsuna gave an absent confirmation as they moved towards the custom jeep-like vehicle out front, not questioning the logistics. Obviously, if unicorns and dragons were real, enchanted weapons could be, too. Besides, the thing _felt_ like a sword in Tsuna's… not Flames. Not what Reborn called 'Hyper Intuition', either. More what he felt around Venna and the others—a kind of not-Flame aura that he never actually _saw._

He had the feeling that it was some kind of association-based solid illusion, kind of like what Mukuro was teaching Chrome only designed to drop when the person holding the hilt was thinking in certain patterns. And that also explained why the bamboo was stronger than it had any right to be—it wasn't bamboo. It was enchanted steel pretending to be.

Reborn tapped his temple sharply, and Tsuna blinked. "Right, sorry. Got distracted by the spells on Takeshi's sword," he apologized, and there was something a lot like a collective blink.

He blinked back, "Can no one else tell that thing is _not_ bamboo?"

Reborn took a breath, let it out, and said "I'm not going to ask how you know that," very evenly. "In fact, I'm not going to ask about the spells. I'm not even going to ask why the cobra is hiding in the hou-ou's feathers. Just—get in the car without breaking reality any further."

Tsuna shrugged and did as requested, gathering all three of his Arcobaleno into his lap as Gokudera slid in beside him, Xanxus taking the driver's seat as Squalo took the seat behind him with Mammon on his shoulder, Kuro and Shī settling silently in the back. Mukuro felt like he was on the roof, and Moeru shuffled his wings a few times—the khe-ti readjusting to allow him free movement—and thrilled.

Tsuna eyed the hou-ou's rather impressive talons and considered. "One moment," he lifted a tolerant Reborn to his own shoulder and gently shooed an amused Fon and pouting Skull over to Gokudera, who had the notebook out again, his enthusiasm having recovered from the morning's bloody wake-up call.

Moeru hopped from the window to Tsuna's lap, managing to avoid hitting the three in the way, and Tsuna winced lightly at the sting as those talons dug into his knees for a moment while the bird caught his balance.

Reborn quite pointedly tucked an arm into his hair, clearly not intending to share lap-space with a bird and the snake curled thoroughly into said bird's feathers.

Tsuna shrugged his free shoulder and turned his attention upwards, "Mukuro, are you sure you want to ride up there?"

A flicker of illusionary kanji in front of his eyes had him shake his head and sigh, "Suit yourself."

"Everyone set, then?" Xanxus demanded.

"Fine back here, Boss," Squalo agreed as Gokudera nodded and Skull and Fon chimed in with "Good" and "I am secure," respectively.

Reborn scoffed at the questioning glance and Tsuna nodded, so Xanxus started the car.

(Forty minutes later, they were pulling into Vongola Mansion's drive and the car smelled faintly of smoky ginger, warm sand, and myrrh. He should have expected that—Moeru always smelled of smoke and ginger and Venna smelled like fresh-cut laurels and spring rain. Of course the khe-ti would have something similar.)

 _xxxx_

Timoteo blinked when his office door burst open, prompting his Mist to reach for his gun before the intruder registered properly—a younger member of security, wide-eyed and looking like he wasn't quite sure how to react to whatever had him so worked up.

"Lord Nono," he panted as he sketched a quick bow, clearly having run from his post at the front entrance, "The head of the Varia is here with his Rain and Mist as well as a seven guests, three of whom are Arcobaleno. They've requested immediate audience!" A slight pause, "… and were somewhat polite about it."

Today, it seemed, was a day for surprises. First Reborn cancelling his contract due to having _Harmonized,_ and now his wayward son come home to _talk?_ Xanxus was rarely polite, and usually only grudgingly so. Perhaps the Arcobaleno had something to do with it?

"Which Arcobaleno?" Timoteo asked briskly, signaling for Croquant to call his other Guardians to the conference room. Xanxus having that many with him meant having all of his own Guardians was likely a good idea, and eighteen people was simply too many for the office.

The guard winced, glancing down. "I'm afraid I don't know the Arcobaleno by sight, and their Pacifiers weren't in easy view. I think one may have been the Hitman, and the other two might have been the Storm and Cloud, but with the number of Active Flames in such close quarters I may have been mistaken."

Reborn wouldn't leave Tsunayoshi's side so soon after Harmonizing, surely. That made no sense… unless one of the others _was_ Tsunayoshi? Iemitsu had said he was visiting his family in Japan, though, so what on earth would the boy be doing in Italy, much less with _Xanxus?_

Timoteo nodded instead of speculating aloud, "Thank you. Escort them to the main conference room—my Guardians and I will meet with them there."

 _xxxx_

Xanxus was gratified to note they'd beaten the old man and his Guardians to the conference room, aiming his little Sky at the chair at the head of the table—at least from the side they'd entered the room from—and pointedly shifting to stand behind it to the Tsuna's right. The Storm-brat huffed but didn't protest, clearly seeing the practicality of the arrangement—this was all about making an _impression,_ and the show of subordinate support was needed. Instead, he took an evenly distanced place to their Sky's left, and Reborn eyed the arrangement before hopping to Xanxus' shoulder.

He didn't blink. The Hitman-Sun was about the only one who seemed to fully share his opinion of the Brat's weird presence—addictive, amusing, and damn _annoying._ Also something to be protected, no matter what he had to break to do it.

Fon hummed and took up a spot on the Storm-brat's shoulder, and Kuro and Shī flanked him on either side, Squalo settling to flank Xanxus' right with both the Baby and the mini-Cloud on his shoulders. Not _quite_ symmetrical, but it would give a powerful visual impact, and the damn bird looked over the arrangement and then hopped to the arched center of the chair-back, turning to face the table while the snake—and Xanxus was not even going to _ask_ —shifted until its head tucked right below the bird's neck, most of its length hidden by wings and feathers.

Tsuna—and he could _not_ call him Brat while the old man was around, the show of support had to be _irreproachable_ , but the familiarity of 'Tsuna' would leave an impression all its own… and probably make the Brat happy—clearly knew the reason for the arrangement and, while exasperated, he accepted it without more than a resigned sigh.

Anyway, point to question, "We doing this in Italian, Tsuna?" Xanxus asked, testing the use of the name.

He liked 'Brat' better.

Tsuna, in response, turned to _beam_ at him and Xanxus had to stop himself from holding up a hand to shield his eyes. Holy _shit,_ it should not be physically _possible_ to exude that much cheerful happiness in an expression. That smile was a damn _weapon._ "That's why I didn't bring Takashi or Hibari," he agreed.

"And your Mists?"

Tsuna's smile eased to something less staggering, "Chrome's keeping everyone under control back at the mansion and Mukuro's being Mukuro."

In the room and unseen, then. And un _sensed_ by anyone but that tiny Transcendent. Figures that the Brat could tell, though—the creepy Mist _was_ his.

Xanxus nodded and Squalo asked a question that made him turn to stare at his Rain.

"Do you even speak Italian, mini-Boss?"

There was no chance to answer, as the opposite door opened and the old man stepped into the room, his eyes visibly widening as his stride faltered on what he was seeing.

Xanxus kept his expression clear out of sheer force of will, viciously pleased at the obvious realization while also disgusted at the level of shock. Wasn't _his_ fault he'd been raised as an assassin, and it sure as hell shouldn't have been so strange that he hadn't hurt the kid. As much as he'd thought it would be _necessary,_ that kind of thing was last resort. He wasn't a mindless killer and he didn't hurt civilians or children unless he had no other choice.

Tsuna had also lost the smile on what he was seeing, twisting to face firmly forward again. "Xanxus?" he asked.

Xanxus appreciated the gesture. "The one in the center is Timoteo Vongola, the Nono and my adoptive father. The others are, from left to right: Visconti, Cloud; Ganauche III, Lightning; Bouche Croquant, Mist; Brow Nie Jr., Sun; Coyote Nougat, Storm; and Schnitten Brabanters, Rain."

Tsuna nodded slightly, sliding his chair back to stand with a blandly sweet smile that made Xanxus want to cringe from the edge of it he could see. "Proper introductions, then," he decided aloud, and Xanxus suddenly realized that Tsuna _wasn't_ speaking Italian, but it sure sounded like it.

Or… more like it felt as natural to understand as Italian, even though Italian was Xanxus' first and best language. He didn't comment, though.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, as you no doubt already know, as it was the Nono who chose me as his successor. To be clear, however—Xanxus is my Wrath, Squalo his Rain, and Mammon his Mist. Reborn and Skull are the only Sun and Cloud that accompanied me here today, and Fon and Hayato Gokudera are both my Storms. Kuro-san is the one I generally leave in charge of the Namimori base and Shī is in charge of the Triads."

Timoteo wasn't the only one visibly stunned this time, and since the reason was for the array of allies, Xanxus found himself feeling a dark curl of amusement.

"Down to business, shall we?" Tsuna swept a hand at the table and sat down again, taking charge as though it was _his_ base—and it _was,_ as far as Xanxus was concerned. Brat was Decimo, and since he was literally the _only_ heir, no one was going to change that.

Xanxus smirked and slid into a chair, the Decimo's people following suit easily before the old man reacted, a few moments too late to gain any sort of control.

Brat was _good._

 _xxxx_


	11. Meeting Room Rule

_As you may guess from the chapter title, another 'no new myth introduced' but it also deserved a better title than 'Interlude', so.  
_

 _Also, not entirely sure I like it. It has all the bits I wanted it to, but I'm not entirely sure of the flow. I don't have a beta, though, so I'll just bounce it off all of you and see what happens, I suppose. Worst comes to worst, I can revamp and repost._

 ** _Meeting Room Rule_**

"The hell do you think you're playing at, boy?" the one pointed out as Visconti growled, eyes narrowing in not on Tsuna, but on _Xanxus._

Xanxus didn't so much as twitch, but Tsuna _felt_ the slight recoil in his Flames, a flicker that he doubted anyone else would even notice amidst the usual restlessness of Xanxus' Wrath Flames.

Tsuna had been polite. Firm, unyielding, and had taken the position of power. He knew full well both how and when to do so, but here was one Tsuna was going to treat as a second speaking out of turn and in obvious accusation against one that had just been established as a member of another faction.

And Xanxus may not have done so in a way that anyone else would ever know, but he had flinched for it.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed, and he immediately decided to call on the rules of underground meeting room etiquette Reborn had gleefully drilled into his head. _No one_ got to hurt his, and the way Xanxus had reacted was further proof that he was far too used to being mistreated. Timoteo and his people hadn't even made to sit, and just— _no._

"Control your men, Vongola Nono," Tsuna snapped, loosening his hold on his Flames and making a point of sliding his Sky between the aggressive flare of the Ninth Guardians' Flames and his people while wrapping Xanxus up in an extra layer to keep the scorch of Flame-backed dislike at bay. "Xanxus is one of _mine,_ and I will not stand for aimless accusations against him."

Timoteo himself had not made any aggressive moves, but his Guardians were far too used to being second only to Timoteo himself in power, and the man was obviously lax with them. That was fine outside of battlefields and meeting rooms, and Tsuna was hardly a taskmaster himself, but he had made it carefully clear to _everyone_ that meeting rooms were places of Best Professional Behavior, and that included Hibari. Not that Tsuna would tolerate backtalk in a battle, either, but he trusted his people to be able to make snap decisions regarding how much violence was necessary to stop an enemy in a serious fight.

He did _not_ trust the majority of them to have any sense of diplomacy at all. He knew where to draw the line, and in the meeting room, Tsuna was In Charge. ('Boss-mode', Reborn had called it proudly the first time he witnessed Tsuna put Hibari in his place during a meeting with a not-First Triad group before Shī had pulled the same 'revolution' card that the Momokyokai had. It had made it into 'The Rules' book. If Tsuna was at a meeting, none of his people were allowed to speak out of turn. _Period._ He loved them all but there were very few of them with any sense of tact and fewer who could use words as weapons. Reborn had made very sure that Tsuna _could_.)

Visconti's head jerked back, and suddenly everyone on the opposite side of the room but Timoteo—who seemed to be quite pale in shock—was bristling defensively, Flames roiling a little below visible manifestation.

Tsuna didn't bat an eye, his own Flames keeping the heat away from his people, who—as The Rules demanded—took their queues from him. Xanxus' Flames all but _purred,_ settling under the weight of Tsuna's own.

"Sit down," Tsuna's voice was deceptively bland. "That you would treat any that should have been yours as a feral beast is despicable, and that you allow others your own to also alienate him is _stupid_ ," he ignored the audible but wordless growls from the Ninth Guardians, feeling a faint sense of satisfaction when Timoteo held up a hand and they held their tongues.

The old man didn't sit, but he did step up to the table, a frown on his face that said more than anything else that he was going to attempt to take control of the situation. "Tsunayoshi-kun, why are you here?"

Japanese, Tsuna noted. Whether to try an endear himself or patronize him wasn't entirely clear, but the form of address and gentle grandfatherly tone were not appreciated. Tsuna took a deliberate breath, "I am here, Vongola Nono, because there are a number of matters that need to be addressed, a minor side-note among which is that you have no right to refer to me in such a familiar manner. Now, you can either sit down, tell your far-too-accustomed-to-power Guardians to stop flaring at my people, and _talk,_ or we can handle this in a similar way to how I handled the Momokyokai and the First Triad."

That was too much for the man's Storm, who took a sharply aggressive step forward, Flames blistering, "Why you little upstart-"

Everyone sitting at the table but Tsuna reacted in synchronized silence, turning identical glares on Coyote that were perfectly Flameless and heavily disapproving.

Tsuna sighed and smacked them all with his Harmony factor, cranking it up the same way he had on the plane but careful not to exude more than the equivalent of a 'peace' admonition (and keeping it very firmly on _his_ side of the room), and the glares subsided as all twelve of them—Moeru and the snake included—glanced to him. He pointedly ignored the cut-off outburst from the Ninth's Storm.

"There is exactly one place where my people do not speak out of turn, because they trust me to _do my job_ , to be able to tell when their input is needed or simply wanted. That is the meeting room _._ If your people do not trust you to be able to manage your own affairs, Vongola Nono, you are doing something _wrong._ This is not some casual family meeting; this is an airing of grievances between as-yet neutral factions, and I will reiterate one final time: control your people, or I will do it _for_ you."

Finally, a response that showed something a little closer to respect—wariness. Timoteo's eyes narrowed, "Are you threatening my Guardians?"

Tsuna smiled, calm and perfectly serene—between his mother and Fon, he had some great bases to work from. "Not at all. They will come to no harm through me or mine unless they outright attack. I will simply ensure that they have reason to behave. Or the inability to misbehave, depending on how stubborn they are."

Squalo cringed down in the chair beside Xanxus, still quiet but clearly remembering the plane ride as his expression went vaguely mortified and Xanxus himself flicked a brief glance at his Rain and smirked _._

Slowly _,_ Timoteo pulled out the chair opposite Tsuna's and sat, capitulating and reaffirming the position of power Tsuna had claimed.

Two rounds to Tsuna. How many there would be, he wasn't sure, but for _his own,_ he fully intended to win them all.

(Timoteo didn't know it, but by choosing Tsuna, by making Tsuna _Vongola Heir,_ he had made himself one of Tsuna's. He was in a precarious position, the head of the hailed 'strongest' but clearly on the decline in both health and ability to maintain the status quo. If he didn't shape up, he'd either have a heart attack from sheer stress or get himself assassinated, so the verbal beatdown was for his sake, too _._

If only he weren't so stubborn that it was necessary. Things would be so much simpler if Tsuna could just say what he wanted and be taken seriously, as he was by the Sora and Shī and even the Vindice. And he was going to have to address the matter of the Triads after this, while Shī was still readily available. Ugh, _underground empire._ )

 _xxxx_

Timoteo had not been expecting… _this._ Well, he hadn't been expecting Tsunayoshi at all, much less a Tsunayoshi who spoke quietly, calmly, and with a near-overwhelming crash of confidence and power while claiming _Xanxus_ as though he were a Guardian.

And Xanxus had not only not protested, he had looked _proud_.

He hadn't been able to formulate a response, seeing a number of very powerful individuals taking every motion from Tsunayoshi almost as though it were some kind of silent law, and not a one of them saying a word. Each had nodded while being introduced, and while Squalo and Mammon had been stiff about it, Xanxus had settled into the chair to Tsunayoshi's right with almost _relaxed_ ease.

He knew he'd made mistakes—mistakes that would be the difference between alliance and war with any rival Mafia group, were they powerful enough to take the lead the way Tsunayoshi was doing.

Timoteo had been neatly disarmed, slapped down with sharp words while his Guardians were—not ignored, but treated like children speaking out of turn, the ire turned on the parent for not teaching them properly.

He knew he'd lost a second round to the boy when he sat, his Guardians reluctantly following suit, but he also realized how the most powerful Sky Flames he had ever felt saturated the other side of the room, a near-wall that felt like it was a mere thought from bursting into the visible spectrum keeping the blistering flares from his own Guardians well away from Tsunayoshi's people, and that he had to think of his _heir_ as a possible rival was… daunting.

Worse, a competent and powerful possible rival, who clearly had personal reason to hold him in contempt, and Timoteo was willing to bet it had something to do with how the heavy layer of pure Sky wrapped protectively around Xanxus, and how his adopted son's Flames didn't feel nearly as… _volatile_ as Timoteo had always known them to be.

They were still _Wrath,_ there was no denying that, but they were smooth, even, controlled; not the flickering, roiling mess he had grown so accustomed to.

He did not want his own _heir_ as an enemy, and he had already lost all of Xanxus' trust—worse, for valid reason—and it would be all too easy for that to spill over into Tsunayoshi. Xanxus had taken the seat of the Right Hand, and no one else had disputed it, although Reborn had stayed perched on his shoulder.

Just as silent, and just as visibly disapproving of Timoteo's lack of control.

Tsunayoshi was waiting, calm and watching him through sunset-amber eyes, whether to be polite or simply evaluating his worth, Timoteo didn't know. He did know what was expected of him, though. His Intuition was not his mother's, but he _did_ have it. "You have grievances," he offered, tired.

Something like approval flickered in amber. "I will leave personal family matters as out of it as is feasible," Tsunayoshi told him, earning a glance from Xanxus that looked both surprised and slightly relieved.

And Xanxus still had made no protests? What _was_ this boy?

Tsuna waited a beat, and Timoteo nodded.

The return nod was crisply professional, and Tsunayoshi was _fourteen._ Reborn was good, yes, but not _this_ good, so how far off had all the things Iemitsu had reported _been?_

Then the list started—lack of control of his subordinates and subsidiaries, use of dangerous techniques without knowing their consequences, improper handling of a Wrath under his care resulting in Flame instability that had been approaching full Discord when Tsunayoshi had stepped in. Poor eyes in the East, lack of sufficient knowledge of allies, refusing to explain to people that needed to be able to trust him if he was going to lead.

And there was solid truth to each accusation.

Then Tsunayoshi's phone buzzed, and—considering how professional he'd been—Timoteo was surprised when the boy brought it out to glance at the screen before nodding slightly, "Bermuda has gotten back to me. He's sending Jager and two others with the list."

On Xanxus' shoulder, Reborn covered his face, a strange little almost-whimper escaping him.

Tsunayoshi glanced at him and gave a semi-apologetic shrug, "Sorry, but they _are_ the most reliable for this."

Timoteo's Intuition sat up in alarm, but he didn't have the chance to question before the horrifyingly familiar hot-cold light-devouring darkness of the Vindice's Flames curled behind Tsunayoshi's chair as the boy himself stood and turned, Squalo and Mammon tensing visibly while Xanxus only tilted his head to eye them carefully.

No one else reacted on Tsunayoshi's end of the table, but Timoteo could feel his Guardians on full alert next to him. Tsunayoshi blithely ignored anything but the three heavily bandaged figures wreathed in black cloth and Flame as they stepped forward.

"Jager, Kris, Zhi," Tsunayoshi greeted, smiling.

All three _bowed._ Not deep, but the polite little bow of greeting Timoteo had seen in Japan from time to time, and the tall one spoke, voice like cracking stone and ashes and death, **"Tsunayoshi-sama. The list of recorded infractions by Vongola personnel, subsidiaries, and outposts within the last three years. None have been great enough to warrant direct attention, but the outpost in Madrid has been growing more active of late and the CEDEF branch in Paris seems to have gone rogue entirely. We are aware that the latter is not directly Vongola responsibility, but we thought you might appreciate the information."**

Vindice. Referring to Tsunayoshi with more respect than anything he'd ever heard from them, and bringing something to him at his request. Not speaking a word towards payment.

Timoteo swayed from the implications, and Tsunayoshi scanned the list quickly, lips tightening in displeasure before he nodded once. "Thank you, Jager. I'll let you know when I'm back in Namimori—and Kris, Zhi?"

The two flanking the one in the middle turned bandaged faces towards the boy. "Hanako and Temari were experimenting with mixing those teas you'd liked—I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you dropped by the base to try it. Jager, Kaa-san says you're not allowed to come again unless you bring Bermuda with you—she thinks he's overworking himself."

He got two nods and a dryly amused **"Noted,"** in reply while Reborn tucked himself sullenly into Xanxus' neck, small fingers curling in black hair as though to forcibly keep himself from strangling someone. Xanxus glanced at him with an expression that said he completely understood and didn't protest the hands in his hair.

The three Vindice vanished with more of that black Flame, and the sudden lessening of the horribly oppressive aura had Timoteo slumping in his seat.

He felt Schnitten's hand land on his back, the familiar wash of his Rain easing the tension in his chest as Nie stood and moved to check him over.

He opened his eyes to see Tsunayoshi evaluating him intently as he stepped around to sit again, then the boy nodded to himself as Timoteo waved his Guardians off. He would be fine.

"Moeru," Tsunayoshi said calmly, "Would you get Venna for me, please?"

The bird—a large and beautiful but _very_ odd creature that had been perched quietly on the back of Tsunayoshi's chair—chirped, a rather large snake sliding free of its feathers to land on Tsunayoshi's shoulders, much to Timoteo's shock.

Almost more surprising, Xanxus and all three of the Arcobaleno Tsunayoshi had claimed as his own tensed sharply, the Varia Rain going eerily still.

Tsuna tilted his head to eye the grey-blue creature, "Table," he ordered flatly.

The snake hissed, but slid off his shoulders and onto the table in front of him, moving to the side when he tapped the wood pointedly but hissing again, raising its front to flare a hood with a bright ruby circle on gold-tan underscale before it faded back into grey-blue on its belly.

Cobra. Tsunayoshi had a _cobra_ on the table.

"It's your own fault," he told the snake. "You shouldn't have bitten me. You're lucky they're letting you near me at all."

To Timoteo's increasing confusion, the snake ducked down a bit, hood partially folding as it hissed again, sounding almost _embarrassed._

Then the bird chirped, did the strangest back-hop off the chair while spreading its wings, and disappeared in a burst of what looked like normal fire. Except birds didn't _do_ that.

Eight seconds later, it reappeared in a much _larger_ burst of fire, planted on the shoulders of a white—was that a _unicorn?_

Timoteo was not the only one staring, and Ganauche was actively gaping, but Tsunayoshi's people seemed to think having flaming birds and unicorns appearing was _normal._ (Was he dreaming?)

"Venna," Tsunayoshi greeted before gesturing to their end of the table, "The one in the middle. What do you think?"

Said creature turned alarmingly intelligent eyes on him, then snorted and stamped, hoof cracking against hardwood like breaking tile.

Tsunayoshi rolled his eyes, "I _know_ that," he huffed. "Can you heal him?"

The horned white head actually swung to stare at the boy and the unicorn made a odd, quiet bugle.

"He's still family," Tsunayoshi told it. "And I'd honestly rather he were in good enough condition to clean up his own messes. If nothing else, he's not allowed to die without having a long, _mediated_ talk with Xanxus about some very valid complaints."

A much less grudging whicker answered the boy, and the creature dipped its head in something that looked a lot like a nod.

He nodded back before glancing across the table, for the first time giving direct attention to Timoteo's Guardians. "Venna says she can heal Timoteo-san, but I will warn you that internal weaknesses of the sort he is suffering from require a rather… _alarming_ method. It is effective, and will leave him in far better health than a man of the Nono's age has any normal right to be, but you must not interfere."

Nie, being the Sun, glanced to Timoteo before answering. "What method?"

"Horn-to-heart," Tsunayoshi stated. "It is how she removed the seal that had been on my Flames and healed the damage it had caused."

Timoteo was almost too tired and worn to care if this was some kind of trick, but his Guardians were more worried. "How do we know it isn't a trap?" Croquant demanded.

Tsunayoshi sighed and glanced at his people, "I'm sorry, everyone, but I think this is going to need a demonstration. Reborn's seen it before, but for the rest of you— _don't panic._ " He pushed his chair back from the table and turned it to an angle of perhaps sixty degrees. "Venna? Slowly, please; let them see what you're doing."

Timoteo noticed that Reborn's lips had thinned and his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists, but he didn't otherwise react.

When Tsunayoshi had said horn-to-heart, surely he hadn't meant—but the unicorn was lowering its horn to press against Tsunayoshi's chest, right above his heart. There was a slight pause, and for an instant Timoteo thought that was it, and then the animal pushed forward, its horn sliding into the boy's chest with chilling ease and Tsunayoshi's head tipped back, his eyes sliding closed as he inhaled sharply, and the image was disconcerting for all that he didn't seem to be in pain.

There was a faint pulse of light as the unicorn stepped back, horn clear of blood, and Tsunayoshi let out a breath, raising a hand to rub at his chest, " _That_ was unnecessary. You've been hanging out with the tóngshī way too much."

He got a snort and a impossibly chiming hoof-stamp in reply and rolled his eyes, pointedly kicking his chair back in to the table. "There. Demonstration over—I'm _fine,_ guys, stop putting finger-dents in the furniture. Timoteo-san, can you and yours sit still for that?"

Valid question. He felt a little frayed around the edges, having seen the boy just sit there and _let_ that spear-like weapon pierce his chest—his _heart_ —as though there was nothing at all to fear.

And perhaps there wasn't, he had to acknowledge, because aside from a fairly small hole in his shirt, there was no sign of any damage. But to sit still for such a thing—no. No, even if Timoteo could do so, he doubted his Guardians would be able to. Tsunayoshi's clearly trusted either the unicorn or the boy enough to allow it, but even they had gripped armrests or the edge of the table hard enough to damage wood, Flames flaring with restless unease.

Tsunayoshi's expression went neutral even though Timoteo hadn't answered, "Nevermind, then, we'll readdress the idea another time," he flipped through the thick stack of papers he'd been handed, then separated them into two equal stacks, sliding one down the length of the table and keeping the other for himself, "Jager brought two copies. That is a list of the things that go against Vongola stated rules and values as have occurred in the past three years and remained either unnoticed or unaddressed. Do you think you can clean up the cesspool that has begun to fester under your nose, or do I need to do it for you?"

Timoteo stared, swallowed, and glanced down at the pile of papers, not entirely sure this wasn't some bizarre nightmare. Unicorns, firebirds, Vindice? It didn't make _sense._ And the list—names, dates, locations, offenses. Rape and murder of civilians. Unsanctioned extortion. Human experimentation. Not against Mafia Law, but betrayals on levels he'd never—CEDEF corruption as well, breakaways. Things were falling apart, and he hadn't even _noticed?_ No, this—it had to be a nightmare, some kind of strangely twisted dream.

Tsunayoshi sighed sharply, "I see. In that case… well. This is unfortunate. I had hoped…"

Timoteo sensed his Guardians tense.

"Perhaps a break? What do you think, Reborn? Xanxus?"

"Timoteo Vongola hasn't taken a vacation in over ten years," Reborn informed.

Xanxus scoffed, "It'll take a hell of a lot more than a _vacation_ to put the old man on par with you, Tsuna, but he might be able to keep Vongola from completely foundering after some time off if you lay down The Rules."

Tsunayoshi hummed, "Shī, Kuro-san?"

Kuro leaned back, "If you're half as efficient setting things up here as you were with taking over the Momokyokai, they should at least have a steady ruling structure. You may have to watch them more like some of the Tokyo newbies, though."

Shī of the First snorted softly, "If you clean out the infection, the wounds will begin to heal. You were quite thorough with the First, and I am sorry that this coincides with the conquering of the others. I will, of course, aid in whatever way I can. The cleansing of the newly conquered can wait if we simply ensure that they are kept contained and cared for until your blood-family is settled."

Tsunayoshi sighed again, and Timoteo felt—detached, really. His Guardians had started to relax a little when it became clear there was no threat of violence, though.

"Vacation it is, then," Tsunayoshi decided. "Or, well. 'Break' at least. I will not force _leaving,_ if you are more comfortable here, but I will insist that you drop _all_ duties once things are officially announced. We can call it a training period. You could easily claim you were simply passing all duties on to me for a set time—a month, perhaps—to see how I would handle it and therefore what areas I still need training in. Whether you remain here or go on an actual vacation can be addressed in the same way; either dropping me in at the deep end and seeing what happens or staying to observe and catch any too-great fallout."

The boy was… thorough, in the simplicity of a cover-story to maintain Timoteo's own reputation. It was starting to feel less like a nightmare, though no less _unreal._ Still, if he was dreaming, what was the harm?

He nodded, "That… does not sound like a bad idea."

(It wasn't until after he'd made an agreement and signed papers to the effect that it really started to sink in. It wasn't until the next day that he realized none of it had been a dream, and he had to announce his heir at the end of the week.)

 _xxxx_

"That went well," Tsuna decided against the sudden chatter the instant they were out of the meeting room, his Elements free from the Meeting Room Rule.

Xanxus snorted, "I think the old man was in shock, Brat."

"He thought he was dreaming," Reborn corrected, hopping from Xanxus' shoulder to Tsuna's as Fon similarly relocated from Gokudera and Skull bounced to the floor before looking up with wide violet puppy-eyes.

Gokudera nodded, only half paying attention as the notebook came back out.

Tsuna grinned. Gokudera's obsession with 'UMA's was only fueled by being able to observe the Myths' antics firsthand. And Tsuna was also pretty sure he was listed somewhere in that notebook, but—well, it made Gokudera happy, so it was fine.

He knelt down to indulge Skull's puppy-eyes, scooping him off the floor while being careful not to dislodge his other two Arcobaleno, and straightened up again. It was probably a good thing that Moeru had taken the other two off—likely back to the Varia mansion—and he offered a bright smile to what looked like empty space but felt like an amused Mist beside him. "What do you think, Mukuro?"

The Mist blipped into view, "Well played, dear Tsunayoshi. I approve, even if you do mean your upcoming rule to be temporary."

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "I have enough to sort out without adding Vongola permanently just yet. Thinking of which, I still need a Lightning—Xanxus, do you know of any possible candidates? Reborn and Fon suggested Verde, but I have yet to meet him."

Xanxus half-shrugged, "I've got a fair few in the Varia, but I'm not sure if they'd suit. Any of them could hold the position, sure, and I don't doubt you could hold anyone, but you'd have to decide on your own."

Possibility, then. He'd get files later so he could arrange to 'stumble across' them and get a feel for them on an individual basis. Also, he could let Reborn and Fon do what they'd been meaning to, which was trick Verde into 'showing up', which would probably be easier with them in Sicily.

Meanwhile…

"Who wants lunch?"

Reborn perked up, before immediately losing the extra enthusiasm, "You're not cooking, are you?"

Tsuna scoffed, "Short notice for this many people and without Kaa-san to help? Not a chance. Pick a restaurant, we'll pick up the others, and I'll pay."

He wasn't even that great a cook. And by 'not that great' he meant 'passable basics only'. He'd just started learning, after all, and more as a stress-relieving hobby than anything. He was pretty sure Reborn only enjoyed it so much because it was _Tsuna_ doing the cooking.

Reborn hummed, "Acceptable."

Despite the hectic ridiculousness and excessive amounts of work and responsibility— _this_ wasn't something Tsuna could regret. These people were his own, and he loved them for it. (The fact that they loved him right back was really only a bonus. Sometimes an exasperating bonus, in the case of his worshipers, but a bonus all the same.)

 _xxxx_

 _Fun fact: cobra hoods flare as the cobra raises the front of it's body; when they are flat to the ground, the hood is folded and they look as any other snake._


	12. Mardyakhowr (Part I)

Well, couple things: one, yes - another two-part. Two, yes, Iemitsu shows, as well as an explanation as to why Tsuna hasn't brought him up before. Three, the second part of 'Mardyakhowr' will explain the more common names and who all adopted the thing, but since the oldest form is the one I'm using, the explanation here is the pertinent one.

Also, I'm a bit busy for the next couple weeks, so updates won't be quite as quick unless I find a spare moment or three. Sorry!

 ** _Mardyakhowr  
(Part I)_**

 _Born in Persian folklore, the name itself is telling: mardyakhowr literally translates to man-to-eat, or 'man-eater'. Always vaguely feline, but the remaining description varies. It walks on two legs, or perhaps four. Generally believed to be red to red-brown in color, this creature may have a tail like that of either a scorpion or a dragon, that can sting or perhaps shoot poisoned spikes. It may have wings, it may not. Horns or no horns, many rows of terrible teeth or only a great cat's fangs. The face of a man, or perhaps a beast. Nevertheless, all the legends agree on one thing: this creature is a vicious one, and not to be trifled with. The oldest lore claims that when it devoured its victims, it left nothing behind, not even bone, clothes, or possessions. If the mardyakhowr caught you, no one would ever know unless someone bore direct witness to your fate._

 _xxxx_

Being in Vongola Mansion with the Brat was an… interesting experience. On general principle, Xanxus was inclined to hate being there. He'd hated it when he was a brat himself, being raised amongst a bunch of people who expected him to know all their high-class ways even though he'd literally been brought in from fighting to keep himself and his Ma safe and fed.

(They didn't seem to realize that his Ma'd been left out there with no one to protect her, that she'd probably died within the week thanks to that, sick as she'd been when she'd passed him off on the old man. Didn't seem to get why he'd be so angry.)

He'd hated it when he got pawned off on the Varia, still hated it when he'd _blazed_ his way up the ladder to being Boss (and, no, he hadn't offed the last one no matter what the Vongola rumors said. She'd passed him the spot with a smile and retired as much as a mafia assassin could, was living a mostly quiet life in Rome) and had to go back for meetings and assignments.

He loved _Vongola,_ sure. He loved their strength, that they could do whatever the hell they wanted and nothing and no one could stop them. The prejudice and stupidity and slow-weakening age of those in the Vongola _Mansion,_ on the other hand… he didn't have good associations with the place, and the weakling morons still there just made it fucking _worse_.

The Brat, though… well, he'd found out within the first two days of meeting him that it was damn difficult to be actually _unhappy_ in Tsuna's presence. Angry, sure, he could get that. But the black kind of sickening, resentful hate that he'd long grown used to having fester with those memories? That was a hell of a lot harder to find with the Brat's too-wide, too-bright, too- _accepting_ Sky right there.

Also, the looks he was getting from the mansion staff were hilarious, with them not knowing what the hell to make of a polite Varia Boss. (Yes, he knew his own 'polite' was pretty damn rude by normal conventions, but he wasn't shooting people or blistering his Wrath at them, and he was the fucking _Varia Boss,_ so even the hardasses in Vongola proper would call his current attitude 'polite'.)

The fact that the Brat looked like a brown-haired, fluffy little Primo clone only added to the confusion. Toss in the fact that said little Primo-clone was wearing his Arcobaleno again?

Xanxus, for the first time in his memory, was actively _enjoying_ being in the Vongola Mansion proper.

Naturally, there was no way that could last. Lal Mirch's appearance should have been a warning, and the Sun and Storm Arcobaleno heading out to bicker with her while Mammon floated after them (probably to either mock them or make a profit, because there were no other reasons that little miser would do anything without a direct order), the mini-Cloud choosing to claim the spot in Tsuna's arms that Reborn vacated.

At some point, they'd lost most of Tsuna's brats to the training rooms, only the Storm-brat, who was acting like a good little mafia subordinate in front of the prying eyes of supposed but untried fellows, and (possibly) Mukuro still with them. Xanxus had been obliged to leave the Peacock and his own dog—Levi was a definite sycophant—to keep an eye out for the brats, because they might be strong brats, but they were still brats and they were Tsuna's, which meant they'd damn well better stay safe or the little Sky would burn Vongola to the ground without so much as batting an eye.

And Xanxus would help him, because if a calm Tsuna made it hard for him to rouse his anger, a murderously furious Tsuna would have him damn well eradicating the source of the rage with extreme fucking prejudice.

Which, naturally, was when the idiot Iemitsu showed.

"I don't know what you're playing at, you twisted bastard," he started the instant he rounded a corner to find himself face-to-face with Xanxus, not yet having noticed the much smaller form at Xanxus' side and likely ignoring the others entirely.

Xanxus didn't even have a chance to cut in before the Brat did it for him, clipped and coldly, _threateningly_ polite. "Do you have a problem with my Wrath, sir?"

Iemitsu's eyes jinked to the side and down, seeing the amber blaze of his son's glare heading back at him. Xanxus blinked and decided he was damn glad his Sky had never turned that look on him, because, _damn,_ that was unnerving.

"Tsuna?" Iemitsu seemed quite taken aback, but not smart enough to recognize the threat.

The chill didn't ease so much as smooth a bit and he glanced to Xanxus. "Xanxus, do you know this man?"

He heard Squalo give a snicker behind him, but his own flash of amusement was drowned in something between fury and dread the instant it appeared.

Tsuna wasn't joking. Wasn't mocking or snidely hinting at too-long a time between visits. There was genuinely no recognition there. Holy shit, what was he supposed to do with this? There was going to be fucking _fallout,_ and he had no idea how to handle it—"Squalo, go get the others. Everyone here, fucking _now._ Mist, if you're skulking in the shadows, get a chain on the fucking incompetent moron in front of us so I don't end up blowing a hole through what little brain he's got. _Shit._ The hell did _I_ end up being the one here for this?"

He felt more than saw Tsuna frown at his side, but Squalo was already heading to obey and the Mist did Xanxus one better and wrapped the moron up in a nest of hissing, live snakes. Considering his freaky eye's Animal Path's abilities, they might not even be illusions, but since the Mist in question was still staying out of sight, Xanxus couldn't confirm that.

"Xanxus?" Tsuna asked sharply while Iemitsu choked with a snake around his windpipe before casting a quick glance to the side, "Mukuro, don't suffocate him. I get the feeling I'll be wanting to have _words_ with this person."

A moment later, the snake eased its grip just enough to let Iemitsu breathe, and Xanxus couldn't dodge the question a third time when Tsuna gave him a pointed look, not even having to speak aloud. "That's Iemitsu Sawada, head of the CEDEF, which is the Vongola's external advisory group. He's your father, Tsuna."

Tsuna _stilled_.

Xanxus tried not to tense, or worse, relax into an assassin's ready-state. Thing about the brat was, even when he wasn't physically moving, his Flames were. Even when he wasn't actively using them, they shifted around him like ocean currents, like wind in the sky, a constant flowing motion.

And for that instant, even his Flames were still, and Xanxus was suddenly and sharply reminded of the unnerving dead-air that preceded a hurricane.

Then they were moving again, a deceptively languid curl that reminded Xanxus of nothing more than a lazing dragon debating whether or not you needed a good bat across the clearing—and the fact that he'd actually _seen_ that remained surreal—and he shivered.

There was a fucking _reason_ this tiny little fluffy brat was his Sky, and it had a whole hell of a lot to do with that hidden _power._

 _x_

Tsuna wasn't quite sure how he felt. He could tell he was making Xanxus nervous, though (it stung for an instant before he realized why _,_ but Xanxus was _his_ and had nothing to fear from him, would never have anything to fear from him, he would fight to the death to keep his own safe), but the nervousness was that of someone out of their depth, not afraid.

This tall blond man was his father. And, yes… he could see the match to pictures left on dresser-tops, an old postcard visibly photoshopped with penguins and this man with a pickaxe.

He'd honestly thought the man dead. If he'd ever called, it was when Tsuna hadn't been home, and years before his mother had said that Iemitsu had gone off to 'become a star'. He'd assumed dead, because he'd not seen or heard from that man since.

To find out he was not only alive, but part of the mafia he'd been dragged into (he didn't regret it, not with so many of his own already having been hopelessly entangled, but some warning and an explanation would have been nice), that rather than having lost his father he'd been _abandoned_ by the man…

As if the sealing hadn't been bad enough.

He didn't particularly mind for his own sake, if he were honest. He didn't need a father, though he resented that he could have had one if only he'd been a better man. His mother, though… some nights he'd heard her crying over her missing husband, but the one time he'd gone to her she'd wiped away her tears, pasted on a fake smile, and told him not to worry. (Her smile had been fake the next day, too, and he didn't do it again. When she had her nighttime cries, she looked a little tired in the mornings, but at least her smiles were real, and even if she wasn't the _best_ mother, she tried and he loved her. Listening to her tears on those nights was a lot like torture.)

He didn't need a father, but his mother had needed a husband, and this man had failed in that not only horribly but _completely_ and Tsuna felt the first stirrings of true fury. He'd been angered when this stranger had begun to accuse his Wrath of something yet unnamed, but to find out this stranger was the same one that had asked the Nono to seal him and then abandoned his family—it wasn't the chill the anger had been. No, this was a hot-cold spark like the Vindice's Flames, an all-encompassing rage that was equal parts blizzard and bonfire.

(Hands on his shoulders, broad and hot, smaller hands on his chest as Skull twisted around to grab the front of his shirt. The wild-edged blaze of Gokudera's Storm rising to match his own Sky's bite even as the green-eyed teen's arm moved to press against his own shoulder. Mukuro's Mist curling through the hall, cool and calculating. Xanxus' Wrath, roiling almost as badly as the first time he'd met the man.)

He snapped back to himself, reigning in his emotions by sheer force of will even as Reborn and Fon blurred to his side, hasty footsteps and familiar presences not so far behind them.

(Reborn growled in disgust as he saw the problem, and Tsuna fought back an entirely inappropriate giggle.)

Behind him, Squalo's phone rang as the rest of his own joined in glaring at Iemitsu, and Tsuna could all but feel most of Xanxus' and a stranger doing so as well while Squalo answered his phone with an irritated bark of "What?"

His attention switched to the new presence when an Arcobaleno he didn't know (clear pacifier with threads of grey, not the Vindice's black hate but more _broken_ , and what had happened to cause such a thing?) stalked up beside the two of his on the ground, clearly a little surprised by the Flames sparking off Reborn's hands and flickering up to Fon's shoulders but setting it aside to snarl at the tall blond.

"Iemitsu, you moron! What have you done this time, that you're antagonizing the Decimo? I don't care if he's your son, you need to show some propriety in Vongola halls at _least!_ "

Tsuna answered for the still snake-bound man, cutting off his attempt to do so himself, "He came around the corner and immediately began to accuse my Wrath of something—I did not allow him to finish the sentence, but it _sounded_ like he believed Xanxus to be manipulating me somehow. I did not allow the Ninth's Guardians to make such an assumption in my presence, and I will not allow this… _stranger_ to do so either. Xanxus has informed me that he is my father. I will deny this now: he may be my mother's husband and my own gene-donor, but I have neither seen nor heard from him in eight years. He clearly married my mother under false pretenses and has lied to her so much that she doesn't even know who he is—this man is no family of mine."

Xanxus whistled, low and impressed. The blond gaped, "Tuna-fishy-!"

Tsuna didn't even have to say anything; the snake around the man's neck tightened its coils once to choke off the sentence before loosening enough to let him breathe with difficulty.

Reborn immediately dismissed the snake-bound man entirely, instead turning his attention on Tsuna and giving a quick introduction, "Tsuna, this is Lal Mirch. She's also part of the CEDEF, but far more competent than the moron over there. Lal, this is Tsunayoshi, my Sky."

Lal openly gaped, and Tsuna smiled at her, "It's good to meet you, Lal-san. I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances."

"What the fuck? Voi, you're only telling me this _now!?_ The fuck's the matter with you? Decimo's been staying with us—you don't let shit this important slide!"

Xanxus' head snapped around to stare at his Rain, shoulders tensing sharply.

Squalo snarled in disgust, "Once this is fucking handled, the whole damn place is getting remedial training. Shit, I don't care what it takes, track him down! If he's not dead or dying, get him in a fucking interrogation room! You don't take fucking _chances_ with this fucking shit!" The phone snapped shut with an audible crack, the casing fracturing under the force of the Rain's grip.

"Squalo?" Xanxus demanded.

"One of the wall guards turned up missing. Damn camera on his path's shorted out, and he didn't come out the other side of the blind spot when he should have. Fucking _hours_ ago. Something about weird tracks by the wall—they at least had the fucking sense to keep those clear and set up a shelter so we could take a look when we got back, but _fuck,_ that kind of late report ain't funny."

Tsuna frowned, reaching out to wrap Xanxus up in his Flames again, though this time was more for the others' sakes than Xanxus', considering exactly whose Flames were hitting scalding levels.

"Traitor?" Xanxus asked, short and sharp and blazingly _Wrathful._

"… I don't know, fuck, maybe. It doesn't make sense, though, Shiv's a street-rat with a stupid name, but I was sure he was fucking _loyal._ If the damn camera was cut on purpose, though, he might've been taken. He's still just a green trainee."

Tsuna watched as Xanxus' fists clenched, as his Flames started to spark visibly around his shoulders. "Damn it, I need to take care of that, but…" red eyes glanced towards Tsuna, clearly torn.

Tsuna sighed, "It's fine, Xanxus. We'll all go—and you _know_ I can handle myself."

Xanxus made a sound like an unhappy cat but didn't protest and Reborn told Lal to pass on the message as Tsuna and Xanxus got the whole group moving. (Tsuna ignored the urge he had to reach out to Lal's broken Flames. There was no time, at the moment, and that grey-break was so much worse than Xanxus' guttering Wrath had been. Maybe after they settled this possible-traitor, possible-kidnap.)

Tsuna didn't realize until after they were halfway back to the Varia Mansion that he'd never asked Mukuro to dismiss the snakes. He smirked quietly, not feeling even a little bit guilty. They had more important things to worry about than how an idiot got away from a bunch of venomous snakes.

(Sooner or later, they'd figure out those snakes weren't illusions, and Tsuna was slightly sorry he'd miss it.)

 _xxxx_


	13. Mardyakowr (Part II)

.

 ** _Mardyakowr  
(Part II)_**

 _The Persian Mardyakowr was eventually adopted out as 'Manticore', and given a somewhat more stable description. Still, the very core of this creature is that of a man-eater, with fur the color of drying blood and a certain level of viciousness that is unmatched in natural beasts._

 _xxxx_

It was early for him to be heading to the mess, but Travail had just gotten off what was possibly the worst guard-duty he'd ever had to pull—one of the men from the north side had just up and vanished, and they'd suspected a traitor but there were also scuff marks and the pawprints of some _very large_ cat—which had left him being dropped in the empty spot while someone presumably reported to the Boss.

It didn't help that he'd actually been slated for the afternoon shift, and over ten hours on the outside wall was both mind-numbing and exhausting, especially since he hadn't been able to snag breakfast before covering the remainder of the missing man's shift.

He got himself a mug of coffee and plopped down at a table to drink it, the only person in the actual mess hall at off-hour. There were cooks in the kitchen, of course, and there was food ready and waiting under heat-hoods (and not, for the cold stuff for those in a hurry). Still, he wanted his coffee before he even _thought_ about food.

(It was a guilty pleasure and not very Italian, that he liked his coffee heavily drenched in milk and sugar. He had the excuse of having a mom from California, though, for all that he'd been raised in Sicily. Vongola as a whole were big on the 'respect your mothers' thing, though, and the Varia were no exception, so the teasing he got for it was good-natured instead of biting.)

A soft clunk next to him made him jump, and he realized that not only had someone snuck up on him, but they'd set a mug down next to him with the clear intention of sitting. A small, delicate-looking hand snapped out to steady the coffee in his hands before he spilled it all over himself, and he had a half-second to register that before who he was looking at filtered into his brain.

"Careful, there," soft brown eyes glinted as their owner deftly slipped his mug from suddenly numb fingers and set it on the table in front of him. "I'm not that scary, am I?"

"D-decimo!" he stammered, hoping to God above that he wasn't blushing as badly as he thought he was. Stuttering and blushing were _not_ Varia Quality.

The Decimo blinked, lips quirking, "Ah, so _you_ were the one who called me a twig."

Travail went a little lightheaded, staring as his skin went from hot to cold. Oh, _Dio,_ he'd insulted the Decimo in full view of everyone in the mansion, and the Decimo _knew it had been him._ He was **_dead_** **.**

"I was impressed," Decimo continued, sounding amused, "Even Squalo doesn't back-talk Xanxus where I'm involved."

Wait, what? Oh, that was _not_ encouraging. Well, maybe a little. Decimo didn't _seem_ mad.

"Relax, I don't bite," he assured, and… yeah, he looked pretty kittenish, actually. All small and fluffy with big, gentle eyes. (But he had also Harmonized _Xanxus_ , who had mentioned having been thrown around by said small, fluffy teen.)

Decimo smiled brightly, and Travail blinked twice, trying to clear the sparks from his eyes. Were those _illusions?_

"Anyway, everyone but Xanxus is bickering in the back halls and Xanxus is being growly, so I thought I should probably bring him something, but then I saw you all by yourself looking… ah, like you've had a bad day. As you probably remember, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but most of my friends call me Tsuna. What's your name?"

He was _not_ calling Decimo anything so familiar. If Xanxus didn't murder him, his peers would. "Travail, Decimo, sir."

Decimo made a slightly irritated sound, "Please don't call me 'sir' outside of formal situations; it makes me feel like I need to be giving orders. I don't like the kind of situation that requires me to be giving orders."

"D-decimo?" Travail tried, trying not to blush at his repeated stutter. Nerves in the presence of Xanxus' Sky could be excused. Stuttering could _not_.

The response was a resigned huff and rolled eyes, "No worse than 'Juudaime'. So, what's got you looking so frazzled? Aside from rank-induced anxiety?"

Travail relaxed a little despite himself. Decimo had a sense of humor and was clearly about as far from a Wrath as was possible while still being a Sky. "One of the men on duty went missing," he admitted. Xanxus had said the kid's orders superseded even his own, and it wasn't like _Vongola_ _Decimo_ didn't have the clearance to know. "I was slated for the next shift in that area ended up pulling a shift and a half on the wall, but no one seems sure what happened to Shiv."

Decimo frowned, a tint of concern in his expression, "Yes, Squalo was furious at a delay in that getting reported, and Xanxus is _very_ unhappy. We took a look at the area, but… any speculation on what happened?"

Travail shook his head, "There were the large cat-tracks and some scuff marks, but no blood that we've found. It doesn't make sense. If it was a wild or escaped animal, even the newest recruits would have at least put up enough of a fight to leave a blood-trail."

Decimo's frown deepened, "That's what Xanxus said. I'll ask Moeru to take a look around. Too bad I don't have the tóngshī or Akhlut-san here. One or the other would probably at least be able to pick up a trail… I don't suppose there are any tracking dogs on base?"

Travail shook his head, filing the names away in case he needed to know them later.

Decimo stood, eyes pensive as he picked up his mug, "I'll have to ask Xanxus what he thinks about getting a few. Can't hire one from a civilian, after all. All right, thank you, Travail-san. Make sure you eat a decent meal. If you've been on shift all day, you'll need the energy."

That sounded weirdly ominous. "Of course, Decimo," he agreed. He'd sort of been planning to just grab a sandwich or something, but after that he was _definitely_ getting a full meal.

Decimo nodded a farewell and headed into the kitchen, reappearing with a tray before disappearing in the direction of the Elite Wing.

Travail tried not to worry about what the evening would bring.

(He wasn't very successful.)

 _xxxx_

Xanxus was in the middle of slogging through every report either by or on his missing guard when he sensed the Brat heading in his direction—he'd noticed his tiny Sky had wandered and kept tabs on where that bright warmth emanated from, but as the closest thing to upset he'd sensed was a quiet ripple in the Brat's Flames, he'd focused most of his attention on making _sure_ he didn't have a traitor on his hands.

He didn't think so—Shiv may have been picked up off the streets with one of the worst self-chosen names Xanxus had ever taken in, but he'd been young and shown Quality. He was no Elite, not by a long shot, but Xanxus had met the former street rat a time or three and Squalo had been right: he'd been scrappy and green-broke but _loyal_.

The small hand pointedly sliding the stack of already-perused papers aside had Xanxus blink and glance up, only to be given a mildly exasperated look in return as Tsuna set a tray with food and coffee in the cleared space. "Eat," he admonished, dragging the chair at the other side of the desk around with a foot and planting himself in it, lifting a plate and fork for himself and gesturing to the notably larger portion left on the tray.

Xanxus raised his eyebrows and the Brat shrugged at him, "You're the one who said I was a mom."

He snorted, "And you're proving it, Madre."

"Keep that up and I'll start pestering you about vegetables," Tsuna informed blithely before growing more serious. "But really, this whole thing feels…" he hesitated, uncertain of the words.

Just to keep the kid happy, Xanxus grabbed the coffee and a bite of the omelet he was clearly expected to eat, then decided the amount of bacon hidden in the thing was acceptable, vaguely wondering if Tsuna'd had it special-made, as the cooks didn't generally provide breakfast in the middle of the afternoon. After another moment, he waved promptingly, "Feels?"

The Brat sat back, frowning. "I don't know," he decided. "I have a bad feeling about it, though. I don't think you should have anyone on guard duty without a partner for a while."

Xanxus paused. He hadn't witnessed much of Tsuna's Intuition himself, but the Sun Arcobaleno had said it was beyond anything he'd seen in the old man or the CEDEF head, which meant going through all these reports in an attempt at confirmation was probably pointless. "Enemy?"

Tsuna frowned, "Maybe? Something about the whole thing feels… _wrong,_ and it doesn't feel like treachery."

"If that scene ain't staged, then what the hell was it?" Xanxus demanded, because an enemy shouldn't have been able to stage something like that so fast in Varia territory without getting noticed. "I don't care how fucking big a cat it was; none of my Varia are the kind of trash to be caught that easy."

Tsuna tapped his fork against the side of his plate, grimacing a little, "Well, that's assuming it's a normal cat. If it's something more like Akhlut-san, though…"

Akhlut—the thing the mini-Sun called the 'whale-wolf-monster'? Shit, after the dragon and the damn invincible cobra, he should have thought of that himself. _Mythological creature._ Who the hell knew what to expect with something like that? And Xanxus' knowledge of handling that kind of monster was exactly nil, considering the snake had shaken off a Wrath shot without even losing a scale.

"Suggestions?" he asked, because at least the Brat had been wrangling impossibilities for a while.

"I'll ask Moeru to take a look around, see if we can find out what it is. Usually the legends around them have some kind of hint, right?"

"Right," he agreed, mind flicking through the few myths he knew that involved killing monsters. They were very this-monster specific, so knowing what they were dealing with would theoretically help. "And if it ain't a myth?"

"Then it will need to be dealt with differently," Tsuna informed, eyes going startlingly dark. "If it's not, then it was staged, and that would involve people who need to be shown the error of their ways."

True, and _damn_ , he'd seen the fluffy brat in a fight or pissed at their old men, but that was an entirely new level of black threat. Now, which option was worse; mythological monster or enemy famiglia?

(Xanxus was leaning towards the 'monster' answer, but he had the feeling his little Sky would disagree. Either way, he gave the order to pair for watches and set Luss to reworking the schedule to accommodate.)

 _xxxx_

"Why are we doing this so late in the afternoon?" Squalo demanded as Tsuna led a group consisting of himself, his Elements (except Chrome, Fon, and Skull, who had been left behind with Bel and Mammon), and most of the Varia Elite out into the Sicilian countryside with Moeru providing chirped directions from his left shoulder.

"Because I have a bad feeling about waiting until tomorrow," Tsuna informed, ignoring how Gokudera pulled out his notebook to mark that down and the slight tightening of Reborn's fingers in his hair.

"I'm not sure whether to love or hate your Intuition," Reborn informed, perfectly flat.

Tsuna wasn't sure whether to love or hate it, either. Sure, it was great when dodging attacks, but the excessive mental prodding to do this or that without a clear explanation _why_ could be very aggravating.

"The Vongola Intuition is legendary and s-crap," Squalo corrected himself down to a less violent curse at Xanxus' glance, and Tsuna hid a grin. (It was gratifying that they were _trying_ , okay?) "But the old man and the idiot don't have it outside of a fight."

"Tsuna's Intuition is… more along the lines of that which Primo was rumored to have," Reborn stated, sounding halfway between diplomatic and disgruntled.

Tsuna glanced at him, interested despite himself. "Primo's Intuition was the reason that the Vongola Intuition is considered legendary," Reborn informed. "The fact that no one else has possessed it to such a degree added to your looks and position will likely have at least some of the more superstitious in the mafia assuming you're a reincarnation or something."

Tsuna wasn't going to ask. Nope. Did not want to know.

"That strong?" Squalo asked, sounding mildly surprised as they trudged through the trees.

"Tsuna's never wrong," Takeshi informed.

"Lil'bro's extreme!" Ryohei agreed.

Gokudera rolled his eyes, tucking his notebook away and ducking under a branch but not actually commenting. (Tsuna was starting to wonder if he was actually getting more comfortable and no longer feeling so defensive or just stuck in permanent professional mode around the Varia. They needed to have a talk at some point either way, preferably without any prying ears, eyes, or cameras.) Hibari, naturally, only grunted.

"I had him ignore it once," Reborn informed, "when it was both an inconvenient time to do what he was sure he needed to and seemed to be something relatively innocuous."

Xanxus side-eyed him, reluctantly curious. "What happened?"

"I will never tell him to ignore it again."

Tsuna winced; he remembered that. He remembered that _well._ So, very likely, did half the Sora and a good portion of Nami-chu. The winces from his other Elements said they remembered, too.

"That _never happened,_ " Hibari hissed at Reborn, vicious in a way that his usual casual violence wasn't. (The Sora and Nami-chu had all decided that it had not, and that anyone who said otherwise had been hallucinating. Hibari's adamancy on reinforcing this meant _no one_ spoke of it in the Cloud's hearing. Except, apparently, Reborn. Who was both an evil little troll and contagious, because Tsuna was starting to enjoy trolling people, too.)

"Don't worry, Hibari-san," Tsuna smiled cheerfully, and Hibari blinked rapidly several times while Squalo stumbled, Levi tripped into a tree, and Xanxus glanced aside with a disgruntled sound. "It never will."

Hibari grunted and looked away.

Tsuna didn't pout, but he did have to wonder why people had such strong reactions to his smiles when he felt cheerful. Was that a Sky Flame thing? Now probably wasn't the time to ask, because the same feeling that had prompted him to gather up the makeshift hunting party was pointedly informing him that something bad was about to happen while Moeru thrilled a warning that they were close to where it—whatever 'it' was—had denned down.

"Be careful, everyone," he ordered, letting his Flames saturate the air around him.

This had the immediate effect of killing the levity and putting the entire group on full alert. Reborn hopped off Tsuna's shoulder, Leon dropping into his hand in gun-form as he set his feet while Xanxus loosened his X-guns in their holsters. Levi shifted a little—the biggest sign of discomfort Tsuna had seen from him, ever—and Squalo's real hand checked the prosthetic where his sword clipped on.

The younger side of the group tensed, Gokudera reaching for his seemingly never-ending hidden stores of dynamite while Takeshi shifted his not-shinai from his back to his shoulder, unclipping the strap. Hibari had his tonfa in hand, and Tsuna wasn't quite sure when that had happened, but that was Hibari for you. Ryohei shifted on his feet and Mukuro materialized a trident. (Why did he like tridents so much? They were a _weird_ weapon to favor in this age. Even _swords_ were more normal, and that was saying something.)

Moeru chirped uneasily, and Tsuna felt more than heard scale shift against feathers as the khe-ti's form rippled with disquiet.

Then Reborn was no longer in front of him, the sharp crack of Leon-gun firing quickly echoed by a screeched sound more angry than pained, the sharp flare of Reborn's Sun lashing out in answer, and Tsuna's fear turned to raging _dread._ Reborn was Arcobaleno, was Flame-strong and an expert marksman. He had the strength of an adult man packed into that cursed body.

But he was _tiny,_ and if Flames washed off whatever that was the same way they did from the khe-ti's scales…

(It had slipped through his own shrouding Flames like smoke.)

"Xanxus!" Tsuna barked, not even hearing himself as he lunged towards the bright heat of Chaos, distantly aware of Levi's parabolas snapping up to cover the other two Suns while their Rains both had swords out, falling in with Tsuna and the Storms—and at the moment, Xanxus _was_ Storm, Flame flaring more red than Wrath—ready to _disintegrate_ whatever threatened rather than just beat it down.

(Mukuro's eye switched to three and the Mist faded from sight.)

Fur the color of half-dry blood, a face and form neither human nor feline but something twisted between. A tail shaped like the dragon's, studded with spikes and tipped with a scorpion-sting, tattered bat wings far too small for flight. Paws, not hands and feet, growling and shaking its head, tiger-ears pinned back against a skull too long to be a man's but too short to be a cat's, turning eyes like pits in reality towards Reborn, half-crouched amidst tree-roots with Leon-gun trained on the thing.

Tsuna noticed all that in a fraction of a second before he rammed his shoulder into the creature's ribcage, using his smaller size (the thing was bigger than _Xanxus_ ) to wedge down and _heave._

Its mouth opened in a screech, and Tsuna had an instant to see too many rows of shark-like teeth before a shot of Wrath-Storm engulfed it.

He didn't stop, darting forward to snatch up his smallest Sun before he twisted aside, that sense of 'do this now' telling him to _move_ and a taloned paw the size of a Clydesdale's hoof smashed through the bark behind where his head had just been.

So, that was Storm not working, then, and it was clear enough that Reborn's Sun had only pissed it off. Hibari slammed in, tonfa wreathed in purple Flame, and while he clearly made an impact, the creature smacked him away with a move that looked almost human, the Cloud's head cracking against another tree hard enough to at least daze him.

Tsuna _snarled,_ his vision tinting orange.

(He didn't remember what happened after that, but he woke up in the Varia's infirmary with a number of worried Elements hovering nearby.)

 _xxxx_


	14. Aftermath

_Look, I'm still_ _alive! Aren't you happy? I've gathered most of my scattered thoughts, but it's hitting the busy time of year - and I'm getting ready to move - so I'm going to be somewhat shy on time. Please be patient with me! Also, looks like brother-in-law will be fine, so long as he doesn't bash his head again.  
_

 ** _Aftermath_**

When Tsuna first woke up, his first thought was less a thought than a general sense of confusion: he didn't remember having gone to bed, much less to sleep. His second was a simultaneous realization of the hospital-type setting and an overlapping jolt of _Reborn/Hibari/Xanxus_ that was more general alarm than anything else. He had no idea what had happened, only that something had been _wrong_ , they'd been in _danger they couldn't fight - !_

His third was that Skull and Takeshi were trying to calm him down, both radiating a weird mix of relief and worry. He felt other familiar Flames spike with the same nearby, all of them drawing closer while flaring restlessly. He managed to pick out Xanxus, Reborn, and Fon easily enough, as those three were somewhat separate from everyone else (and each other), but the overlap of his younger Guardians made it difficult for him to tell where Hibari was. It didn't help that the Cloud had Flames that were generally quiet and even, though they sharpened along the edges whenever he was annoyed (which was admittedly a lot) and flared a little when he got interested (which wasn't often).

Unable to determine for himself, he turned his eyes on his smaller Cloud and Rain. "Hibari—is Hibari all right?"

Takeshi pulled his familiar sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head, but Skull gave an actual answer. "He's fine. He got a concussion and still has a headache, but some Rain and Sun Flames got the swelling down and he should be completely well in another day or so."

Tsuna couldn't help but wince. Hibari was irritable on a _good_ day. He didn't want to know what Hibari with a headache was like. So long as he was okay, though, Tsuna was fine with soothing the inevitable wounds to both bodies and prides, because he couldn't imagine that absolutely everyone in the Varia had managed to dodge a headache-ridden Hibari.

(Incidentally, he was right—Hibari had put a relatively mild beatdown on a too-noisy group in the dining hall. The fact that the worst anyone had gotten from him was bruised ribs meant that the headache had to have been pretty bad at that point. General consensus was that the instigators had deserved it for aggravating an already aggravated Cloud. Tsuna didn't want to know what that said about most Clouds and was profoundly grateful that Skull wasn't violent.)

Tsuna flopped back into the (remarkably comfortable) infirmary bed, assured that everyone was okay. He could feel that the others were, and if Hibari was sleeping—well, no wonder Tsuna couldn't get a clean read on him. He then took the moment to take stock of himself—he felt fine _._ Tired, maybe, and achy—but the sort of achy one got from staying still too long, nothing worse.

Then it occurred to him that even _with_ Flame treatment, a concussion wouldn't likely be gone in less than a day. It was hardly the first time one of his own had gotten knocked in the head, after all, and the _minimum_ recovery time had been two days, three to lose the headache.

He turned his attention back to Skull, since Takeshi tended to try to make things seem less severe than they actually were, "What happened and how long have I been out?"

Skull shuffled closer to cuddle into his side, which made it rather difficult to see his expression, although the gesture in itself spoke volumes. "Reborn said you used too much Flame. You've been here for almost three days, now. It was really bad at first—I couldn't feel you at all until they got you back to base."

"Yeah," Takeshi agreed, smile gone as his eyes went a bit distant, "That—that really scared everyone. I mean, I was _with_ you, but after that flare there was a second where you just—it felt like you'd just _disappeared_. Reborn said he had Xanxus feeding you his Flames while he kind of—filtered them, I guess? Anyway, they got you stable and we brought you home, but Reborn was worried that you wouldn't wake up. He didn't _say_ it, but…"

"You cut things too close, Tsuna," Reborn informed from the doorway before making his way across the room to hop up and join Skull in unashamed cuddling. Well, Reborn climbed onto his chest and sat down to _scowl_ rather than actually cuddling, but the sentiment was obvious.

"I still don't know what actually _happened,_ though," Tsuna complained. "The last thing I remember is Hibari getting smacked into a tree!"

Reborn's scowl shifted to a frown, "You don't remember?"

Tsuna shook his head, feeling somewhat bewildered. "I remember Hibari falling and then everything just turns into an orange haze."

"That's no good," Reborn's frown deepened. "That means it was a purely instinctive reaction. Telling you to be careful is pointless in that case, and if it was triggered by a Guardian being seriously injured in an immediately life-threatening situation, we can't train it, either, not with your Intuition."

Somehow Tsuna was less than surprised when Xanxus was the next to appear, this time with most of the rest of them following behind. "Fuck that," the Wrath decided. "If we can't train the Brat, we'll train the Brat's brats. Avoid the situation repeating that way."

Reborn wasn't the only one to nod, and Gokudera was the first to break the brief silence, "We'll train until we're the best, Juudaime!"

For once, Takeshi was silent, but his nod was determined, and Mukuro murmured something that sounded agreeing while Chrome added a firm "Hai!" and Ryohei's "Extremely!" was a lot more serious than usual.

Tsuna was caught between being touched (they all worked so _hard_ for him) and being resigned to being a bit of a burden on them. He didn't like making everyone worry—he didn't do it on _purpose,_ of course, but he felt bad all the same.

Reborn leaned over and swatted his forehead reprovingly, giving a scolding look that required no words. Tsuna reached up and hugged him, earning a disgruntled glower, and he heard Fon—who had been further away than everyone else, and add that to frankly tiny legs it made sense that he'd been the last of the non-Hibari Elements to arrive—make an unhappy sort of sound as he had to go over rather than around the crowd in the doorway. Xanxus seemed to be blockading on purpose, keeping the lot of them (himself included) from piling into the small room.

He let Fon use his shoulder as a launch-pad to the bed, though, so he might just be being thoughtful about space. Tsuna snagged Fon against his free side (the Arcobaleno were a great size to cuddle in groups) and waved the whole lot of them in.

The line of Xanxus' shoulders eased a little as he strode into the room and the others crowded in after him, and Tsuna found himself relaxing under their combined presence, soothed despite himself by having so many of _his_ near. It would be better with Hibari, too, but Hibari didn't like crowding and still had a headache, so it was probably a good thing he was off napping.

Still. The better part of three days spent sleeping meant he had _work_ to catch up on, so Tsuna sighed and sat up, scooping the three Arcobaleno into his lap as he did so.

Reborn glowered but didn't actually protest and Fon smiled serenely. Skull hugged Tsuna's arm. Tsuna hid a cooing grin at the cuteness and skipped straight to business. "All right, what still needs to be done before my official introduction?"

 _x_

 _Damn the official introduction,_ Xanxus wanted to say. Less than two days until the temporary instating of the Decimo was _terrifying,_ because after that Tsuna would be out of his sight more than in it, and even _in_ it things that ended in infirmaries happened!

Granted, both those things had involved creatures that had no right to actually _exist_ —thinking of, they had to do something with that damned ugly statue that was all the Brat's Flames had left of a vicious man-eating monster (the Brat's brat Storm had looked it up, and said it was the Persian ancestor of a Manticore, and how the hell something like that even _had_ ancestors was beyond Xanxus)—but the fact remained that if he _and_ the Arcobaleno had trouble keeping the Brat in one piece _,_ how were the Brat's brats supposed to catch up? They had less than two fucking days!

Instead of the protest he wanted to make, he just shook his head and got to business. Brat didn't waste time when it came to taking care of things, and Xanxus respected that. "Vongola Mansion's security is shit," he informed. "We're bringing our own. Got a few of mine who'll be visible, but your Triads' caretaker wants to come along with some shadows and your Sora claims to have several capable of blending with Italian crowds to keep an eye on the mood. I want you to bring the bird and I don't even know what the fuck the Vindice want, because the tall one keeps dropping by to see if you're awake with a baby on his shoulder."

Tsuna blinked, "Bermuda's been coming with Jager?"

Bermuda—the one he'd said was the leader. Well, shit. Learn something new every day—because there was no way that not-young baby _wasn't_ Arcobaleno. The clear Pacifier around his neck was proof enough, and unnervingly similar to Lal Mirch's—though hers had a few grey strands tangled inside it. That—was something to think about another time, because figuring out where the Vindice came from wasn't gonna get the Brat any safer for his inauguration. (Though with what Tsuna had said about Vindice being undead added to the not-baby with a clear Pacifier… well, fuck, there was an undead Arcobaleno—that was terrifying.)

"If Bermuda's the mini," was as much acknowledgement as he was going to give his own thoughts for the moment. "Let the Suns check you over, and if you're well enough we can lift the lockdown and get some first-hand info on the old man's security plans. The teleporting bird and the Vindice's portals are the only ways we've been letting anyone in or out since you petrified that thing."

"Petrified?" the Brat asked, tilting his head.

"It's a statue," the Rain brat informed cheerily.

"A damn ugly one," the Storm brat agreed. He'd been getting slightly more talkative the past few days, but the stress had been getting to him. It was a good thing the Storm baby had taken him aside, because Xanxus had been considering giving him a good smack just to lessen the prickling edge to Flames that were only _mostly_ Storm.

"Huh," Tsuna considered that for a moment, then shrugged and dismissed it. "Is there anything else I should know before it gets sprung on me? How are things with the Sora and Shī's 'newly conquered'?"

"Your minions are fine," Xanxus told him, "You want details, ask 'em yourself. Lal Mirch's been trying to see you, but we stonewalled with the lockdown. You want us to let her in or keep blocking?"

The Brat's perked up, "Lal-san? Um…" he glanced to his armful of surprisingly silent Arcobaleno, "… maybe not until tomorrow. Her Flames are really broken and I _am_ still a little tired."

That implied things Xanxus was not going to think about.

Reborn tilted his head back to eye the Brat for a moment, then nodded. "Go back to sleep, then, dame-Tsuna. We can manage without you until tomorrow."

(The doubtful look sent the mini-Sun's way would have been more insulting if the damn unicorn hadn't chosen that moment to wander in, hooves chiming cheerily as she whickered a greeting. If another damn mythological monster showed, Xanxus wasn't putting money on them being able to handle it without the Brat.)

 _xxxx_

Convinced of everyone else's relative health and safety, Tsuna eventually relinquished his grip on Reborn and his fellow Arcobaleno, quite agreeably settling back down after a number of assurances and Xanxus being amusingly sarcastic. (Reborn hadn't expected to enjoy the Varia boss' company, but he'd found something of a kindred spirit against the sheer insanity that was Tsuna's life. That and he enjoyed watching chaos of the more normal Mafia variety almost as much as Reborn liked causing it, and Reborn did like an appreciative audience.)

It probably helped that Fon and Skull showed no inclination to leave, and Reborn himself only rearranged to a better position to use his Flames to check Tsuna's health. (Tsuna was well on his way to full recovery, and another day's rest would have him no worse off than an all-nighter would have left him. Reborn was glad, and seeing it for himself was far more reassuring than medical equipment or the Varia Suns. Ryohei had no idea how to check, yet, so he was no help at all, fellow Sun of the same Sky or not.

Now, if only they could get through a month or three with no mythological interruptions. Also, that last one? _Proof_ that Reborn's wariness of the newcomers was completely warranted.)

Tsuna reached out and tugged him into something that was part hug and part cuddle. It should have been demeaning. It also wasn't the first time, and Tsuna was so _warm_ that Reborn only huffed and let him, joining the Arcobaleno pile on the infirmary bed and taking inordinate comfort in the gentle, humming warmth of Sky curling around him.

(Tsuna was making him soft.)

(… _worth it._ )

 _xxxx_


	15. Caladrius

I should be packing, but I needed a break. So. Have the results of my break. There's a new _Mythos_ up, too, although that one's been wallowing on my computer for well over a week.

 ** _Caladrius_**

 _Out of Roman mythology, caladrius are small white birds said to live in the homes of kings. Mostly, they are fairly ordinary—except if someone is ill. If they look into the eyes of a sick person, they take the person's illness into themselves, after which they fly up towards the sun to let the heat and light burn the malady away… thereby curing both the sick person and themselves. If they refuse to look at a sick person, they will not heal that person, and that person is then left to live or die without their aid.  
(In Roman times, that was usually 'die'.)_

 _xxxx_

Reborn hopped onto Tsuna's infirmary bed, fairly sure the boy was dozing, and stopped short. There was a bird on Tsuna's chest. It was not much bigger than both his hands put together, its feathers a pure white that strongly reminded him of the unicorn's coat, and shaped somewhere between a dove and a small plover.

Tsuna was having a silent stare-down with it, a look of utter exasperation on his face.

A soft hiss from the side provided an explanation, and Reborn growled silently. The first four mythological interruptions had been spaced across _months_ (he refused to count the Vindice on principle), and then the Varia show up and the next four drop in across less than nine days, one of them being hostile.

Reborn turned around and hopped back off the bed with a flat, "Nope."

Tsuna could just stay in the infirmary a while longer. It was too early to deal with this, although the snake's explanation of 'caladrius' was at least something he recognized. The closest the small bird came to being hostile was refusing to heal someone according to the legends, and the only real references to it indicated nothing strange about it aside from its ability to take away sickness. There were even a few warnings against eating it (considering the 'taking sickness into itself' mythology, sensible) which meant it could be killed in some ordinary ways.

(It was also another 'ruler' reference, since they were only supposed to settle in the homes of kings. This was becoming a theme, and Reborn was starting to dread the meaning of it.)

Now to go complain to Xanxus. It was always funny to see him try not to freak out, and it made Reborn feel less like the _only one with sense._ Reborn was not supposed to have to be the _sensible_ one!

 _x_

Tsuna blinked when Reborn 'noped' his way back out without so much as a greeting, although if he were fair, he hadn't exactly broken his staring contest with the new arrival to say hello, either. The khe-ti had, and it reminded Tsuna that Reborn spoke Reptile, which apparently meant that he could understand mythological snakes.

Who knew?

(Well. Reborn, probably. He _had_ gotten pretty exasperated with a few things she'd said. Somehow that hadn't clicked.)

The bird on his chest chirped curiously.

Tsuna sighed and shooed it off, "I think that was you. And go talk with Venna, would you? She's the unicorn, and she's now the head of the Myth Healing Division."

And the fact that he had to say that wasn't even… And what did that make the others? They were _all_ going to want some kind of position-title, now! (The tóngshī were definitely part of security. Moeru was secure transportation, he supposed. The dragon—well, he might end up ranked in as 'heavy assault'. And Akhlut-san… hm… scouting, maybe? He certainly could fight, and was big, but—scouting and tracking just felt like it would fit better. The khe-ti was definitely security. Was he missing anyone? He felt like he was missing someone. _Why_ did he feel like he was missing someone?)

"… Do I want to know?" Squalo asked warily from the doorway, and Tsuna blinked questioningly at him.

"The bird," he elaborated.

Tsuna grinned, "Reborn didn't, but the khe-ti told him anyway."

Squalo opened his mouth, stopped, and shook his head. "Shit, fine. I'm not asking. You said to let Lal Mirch in today, and she just called—you had breakfast yet, mini-Boss? Boss'll murder me if I don't make sure you're fed before letting you deal with CEDEF, even if it is the mostly competent ones."

Tsuna perked up, "Food sounds great, and I'd be happy to see Lal-san. Um—one moment," he turned his attention to the pale gold of the newest arrival's eyes, "Go on, let Venna get you settled. She's—" he paused to scan for the forest-wild feel of her, "—outside, about two kilometers north of here."

A burst of fire interrupted, and a certain hou-ou gave a cheery thrill.

"Moeru can take you," Tsuna acknowledged.

"Okay, shit, I really _don't_ want to know," Squalo agreed, "You allowed out of here yet or should I send your puppy with food?"

Tsuna waved, "I'm _fine_ , but Reborn hasn't actually said I can leave, yet. He took one look at the caladrius and turned right back around."

Squalo blinked twice and frowned, "I've heard that before. Sh-" he scowled and broke off the curse, "Nevermind, I'll send the puppy and call the CEDEF back. Need anything else, mini-Boss?"

Tsuna smiled, (Xanxus' Rain really _was_ trying, even if he only remembered sometimes) and shook his head, "I'm fine, Squalo-san, although if you would ask Gokudera-kun to bring me my phone, just in case? I'm sure you have enough to handle as it is."

Squalo made a grumpily agreeing sound and left, apparently having used up his knowledge of courtesy. Tsuna tried not to think it was cute. (He mostly failed. Squalo's attempts at being polite were almost as adorable as Xanxus' in their ineptitude. Also, he was _never_ saying that out loud. Neither of them would appreciate it _at all._ )

He also tried not to get too wound up—Lal-san's Flames were so _broken,_ but it had felt like the kind of damage that could be shored, if not exactly healed. He hadn't gotten a very good grasp of it, though, having been focused on other things at their first meeting. He hoped he could help… it wasn't like Xanxus had been, unstable and deteriorating but not diminished. No, hers had seemed almost… _cracked,_ like ice dropped in hot tea, breaking and dissipating all at once.

And thinking on it was having the opposite effect of his intent. Tsuna firmly put thoughts of Lal Mirch and Flame-damage out of his mind and turned his attention to feeling out his Elements instead. And he'd have to arrange something for I-pin and Lambo to come, and Ken and Chikusa if they were willing. Maybe Ryohei's sister, too—and when had he started thinking of Kyoko more in the sense of kin-of-my-kin than as Kyoko-chan, class idol and crush?—and Kaa-san, if she wanted. He'd have to tell her what Iemitsu was either way, and he wasn't looking forward to that for all that she'd taken it in stride when he'd told her about being the heir to a mafia group and taking over the Momokyokai. (And then the Sora. And the First Triad. And then all the Triads. Oh, gods, his _life,_ **_why?_** )

… but he had told her himself, and hadn't been lying to her for years. Sure, he'd hidden it for a while, not wanting to worry her, but once he'd taken over a Yakuza group it just wasn't something he could have hidden for long, because Sawada Nana was more than a bit airheaded but she wasn't _blind._ Cheerful Yakuza calling him 'Juudaime', 'Oyabun', and variants of his name or titles suffixed with '-sama' or '-dono' would have been a little hard to miss.

Agh, he was stressing himself out again!

(Gokudera's arrival was a welcome distraction, and there was a conversation he'd been meaning to have with his youngest Storm for a while…)

 _xxxx_

Xanxus kept a straight face as he escorted the semi-Arcobaleno and her colleague through the halls, said colleague carrying a tank full of snakes that were probably the ones that the creepy Mist had set on the idiot Iemitsu. Which meant two things: one, they _had_ been real, and two, at least one of the CEDEF trash thought they'd want them back.

Which would have been hilarious under other circumstances, but now was only mildly funny. Because the Brat might be okay—which was half dumb luck and half the fact that he had more Flame to throw around than Xanxus and his Elements _combined_ —but he was still in the infirmary and Xanxus was leading two people he barely knew ('allies' didn't mean 'friends') to see his Sky in a position of relative weakness.

That part rubbed Xanxus about six types of wrong, and if he wasn't relatively sure that Tsuna actually _wanted_ to see Lal Mirch he would have chewed out the Shark and booted the CEDEF right back out the door, snakes and all.

Still, the Brat _did_ want to see her, and the other was obviously playing servant for the trip, so Xanxus simply pushed open the door to the medical wing and gave the two warning glares before gesturing them into his Sky's temporary room. He could sense Tsuna's own three minis already in there, and he felt a little better with the CEDEF stuck in the middle and hampered by a glass tank full of things he was reasonably sure were on their side.

Turned out the unicorn was in there, too, laying across the tile at the foot of Tsuna's bed with Reborn idly skipping tiny flicks of Flame off her mane from where he sat on the edge of the bed.

Lal Mirch stopped dead, staring, and the male trash did the same.

Xanxus snorted and ushered them forward again, nodding to his fellow Elements and Sky, "Tsuna, Lal Mirch and Turmeric. Trash, the Decimo. If you don't know the other three, you haven't been doing your jobs."

There was a soft snort and a somewhat baleful whirling-wild glare.

"… and Venna's the unicorn." he conceded, remembering what Squalo had said about that thing's horn.

Tsuna smiled a greeting at them, his eyes going warm and fond as they landed on Xanxus, who kept his expression neutral despite the fact that was still a little staggering, that the kid actually _cared._ Then his gaze skipped down to Lal Mirch and his expression flickered a little, darkening with something undefinable as his eyes settled on the twisted grey strands tangled inside an otherwise clear Pacifier.

(He notably ignored the tank of snakes.)

"I'm sorry, Lal-san, but it is somewhat uncomfortable to feel your Flames as they are. Do you mind…?"

Her shoulders stiffened a bit, but her voice was polite as she said "Of course not, Decimo."

Tsuna gave her a smile that clearly bewildered her and Xanxus had a half-second to realize where this was going before the Brat's pure Sky _surged,_ going from a light breeze to a roaring wave undercut with _riptide_ , and there was a sharp sound like breaking ice and Lal Mirch staggered, Fon blurring to steady her as Reborn gave a startled growl and Xanxus shouldered past Turmeric, snatching the snake-tank from his hands to discard to the floor in a way that wouldn't end in snakes and glass everywhere before stopping at the bedside, but Tsuna's Flames didn't feel strained.

Reborn checked him with gold-glowing hands before snorting and shaking his head in clear exasperation, waving dismissively at Xanxus.

They'd chew the kid out for that stunt later. Xanxus turned to see what the Brat had actually done and blinked. The Pacifier around Lal Mirch's neck had cracked down the middle and the previously grey threads were blue, a soft shade that was spreading its way throughout the rest of the formed crystal, and the flickering tang of Cloud and Mist was quickly being eclipsed by Rain.

Also, that still-shifting Flame was reaching back to the Sky that had freed it and Xanxus turned a halfhearted scowl on a clearly pleased Tsuna. "Damn it, Brat, that is _not_ a Lightning."

 _x_

It had been a long time since Lal had been anything beyond mildly surprised—up until meeting Sawada Tsunayoshi. If Reborn claiming him as _his Sky_ hadn't been stunning enough, the boy had claimed Xanxus as a Guardian and Xanxus hadn't refuted it. Add in his clear disdain for his father (and, worse, for valid reason), and the range of allies she later found out he'd managed to acquire (Triads were astounding as they were, but _Vindice?_ ), and the _trained attack-snakes_ she'd been pretty sure she'd run out of shocks.

(She knew he had at least one very talented Mist, so the unicorn—while exceedingly strange—was at least not _shocking._ Although Xanxus introducing it had been a little weird.) Then… well, she'd assumed the apologetic comment on her Flames was a really polite way of telling her to leave.

Obviously, she'd been wrong. On multiple counts, because the boy had done _something_ that—shocked. On more than one level. It had _felt_ like a shock, a connection long broken being jolted back to life, her Pacifier cracking and grey shifting to blue as her Rain, her _Rain_ that was the core of her, the thing she'd had to learn how to go without, the piece of her soul sundered apart and leaving her foundering on Mist-streaked Cloud was suddenly _there_ again.

 _What had he done?_

And did it even matter? There was warmth, there, the Sky that had felt intimidatingly wide against her senses suddenly a sheltering presence, and her thoughts reeled as her body did the same.

Fon, seeming pleased despite obvious exasperation, braced her upright as she tried to adjust to a world suddenly stabled after so long on sea-storm tilting. "Tsunayoshi-sama does have a way of changing things," he murmured, amusement hiding in his voice.

Lal laughed, half-hysterical with desperate _relief_ , more confused than she'd been in _years_ but too happy to care. Good _God,_ this kid was more than Iemitsu could ever _wish_ to be, and his Flames were warm and strong, vaster than the sky and heavier than the ocean, but curling around her own with a gentle welcome that felt like _home._

Was this Harmony?

Skull's bright, "Welcome to the club, Lal! Tsuna gives the _best_ hugs!" was probably the answer to that. Which meant she had decisions to make, things to arrange, people to inform and… well. This was going to flip her life on end.

Tsunayoshi smiled at her, "Breathe, Lal-san," he instructed, amused as he patted the edge of his—suddenly where they were clicked, and she jerked away from Fon's supporting hold in alarm. What had happened? Why was he in a _hospital bed?_

Tsunayoshi huffed, sounding exasperated as he rolled his eyes.

Lal found herself picked up by the scruff of her shirt and dumped onto the bed even as Xanxus turned to glare Turmeric out the door and close it with only a curt "Wait there," as orders.

"I'm _fine,_ Lal-san," Tsunayoshi informed her, "I'm only still here because all my Elements are _twitchy._ "

Reborn hopped onto his shoulder and pointedly thwapped him, far more gently than she would have expected from Reborn… which kind of proved the kid's point.

"There was an incident," Fon informed, very uselessly. "Tsunayoshi-sama ended up using a great deal of Flame, and it was deemed a better idea to have him in a place where he could be easily monitored until he regained consciousness. I believe Reborn left him here this morning as punishment for bringing in a new myth."

"I don't _bring them in,_ " Tsunayoshi complained. "They show up on their own!"

Wait a minute. She turned to look at the unicorn, then up at a toothy grin from Xanxus.

"I don't want to know," she decided.

"Ain't gonna have much choice, mini-Rain," Xanxus informed her with a vicious sort of cheer. "Just be glad the dragon's still in Japan."

Someone was having her on.

(It turned out that, no. No, they weren't. Also, Tsunayoshi told her she didn't have to make any decisions just yet, and should probably take a day or so to rest and get her thoughts in order before they went over her options.

… that alone might make it worth following him anywhere, that he would give them the _choice_.)

 _xxxx_


	16. Zeal

_So, almost ready to move. Almost. Since it's going to be a few thousand miles (with only two soccer-mom-style cars as transport), I've been having to do a lot of organization and even more downsizing. The parents are helping with the move itself - thus two cars instead of one - and have offered to send up things such as books that won't suffer for being left in a box for a while (unlike my pet rabbit, who is going to_ hate _the drive) and also aren't going to be needed immediately, like clothes and such. Then I will be unpacking, settling in, starting up a new job, and possibly getting married. Possibly. Since, you know, large part of the reason I'm moving is that my fiance lives where I'm headed. (We've been best friends forever. Or twelve years, as the case may be. The 'engaged' bit happened without a 'dating' bit ever cropping up, but it works so far, although we're going to wait on wedding plans until after we make sure we won't want to strangle each other in close quarters for extended periods of time.)_

 _Anyway, fair warning, it'll be a bit before I settle in enough to have a schedule, so updates will be spotty. (There is Mythos planned from this, but not yet decided up. Who wants Viper/Mammon POV and who wants Colonello? Or Kuro, I suppose. And possibly either Mammon, Bel, or Travail on left-behind Varia-panic for the Mardyakowr part II?)_

 ** _Zeal_**  
 _(or 'overzealousness', as the case may be)_

"Huh," Colonnello commented out loud, eying the international news broadcast in Mafia Land's 'security break room', which was really more a news lounge with several different television stations running subtitles around the room and a number of newspapers stacked neatly by region and language. (Sound was generally kept off unless or until someone turned one on, to keep down noise confusion.)

He hopped up to smack the volume knob, and the newscaster's voice immediately caught the attention of the three others also in the room.

 _"-have been completely without communications for over six hours. The borders to both North and South Korea have been locked down and all air-travel through the area has been redirected or cancelled. Cell towers, landlines, sattelites, and even handheld radios and walkie-talkies are incapable of sending or receiving a signal within either of the Koreas at this time. No one seems certain what is happening or why, but for the moment it seems all anyone outside the country can do is wait."_

"... is that possible?" one of the newer security guys set his coffee down, eying the screen dubiously.

"Has to be, if it's happened," the head of the ferry screening knocked back the last of his juice—the guy never drank anything but orange juice on the job—and stood up. "Hell if I know how, though. Got anything, Colonnello?"

"It's not military," Colonnello informed. He'd been very good about keeping up-to-date on military capabilities for every major country in the world, and a number of the smaller ones, besides. "It doesn't sound Mafia, either, but Verde could probably manage something like it. Flame tech can pull off things that normal electrics and machinery can't. Might be a Geondal* experiment, or something like North coming down on South again. Won't know until we either hear more or send someone to check it out."

Most interesting thing to crop up on international news in years, and it had to be something they hardly knew anything about. Damn reporter inefficiency.

(Colonnello found out more the next day, when Viper called him to complain. _Viper.)_

 _xxxx_

Tsuna loved his people. He really did. He loved them with the same unconditional ferocity with which a mother bear loved her cubs, and with several times more potential for mass destruction in their defense.

That did not change the fact that they were sometimes a bit… _overzealous_ on his behalf.

(Tsuna was starting to get the distinct feeling that he shouldn't leave them unattended.)

He was going to have to explain that, no, conquering countries was _not_ appropriate, no matter how much they wanted the research that was rumored to be there somewhere.

(Reborn was silently laughing at him. Just for that, he was getting to help with the paperwork that would inevitably come of this.)

"… you weren't kidding about them being a bit too enthusiastic about getting you things," Xanxus observed, sounding like he wasn't sure whether to join Reborn's soundless laughter or bang his head against the nearest wall.

Tsuna groaned, letting his head thump down on the rather nice desk of the formerly unused office he'd appropriated. "I still have all of Shī's 'newly conquered' to organize. I have to start sorting out the mess that is _Vongola_ tomorrow. I don't _want_ to rule Korea!"

Xanxus plucked the papers that had arrived less than an hour ago out of his loose grip and started flipping through them, his eyebrows creeping a little further up his forehead with each page. "… Korea wasn't one country two days ago," he observed after a few moments of shuffling papers.

"I know," Tsuna informed the hardwood.

"The Koreas dropped out of international news for _one day_ ," Xanxus continued, picking his way through the kanji. "That should not be enough _time_ to restructure countries and put in a new government."

"I know," Tsuna repeated, pushing himself back upright as he mentally resigned himself to having his workload for the next few months tripled at _least._

"You are the _legal monarch_ of a newly restructured country," Xanxus lowered the papers, a certain level of incredulous disbelief in his voice.

" _I know_ ," Tsuna groaned, letting his head bang down on the desk again.

"Have you ever even _been_ to Korea?" the Wrath asked.

 _ **"No,"**_ Tsuna growled, raising his head to glare balefully at the papers in Xanxus' hand. "Kuro-san and the Sora are _grounded._ I do _not_ need more work! I have enough to handle right now as it is!"

Reborn's laughter stopped being silent.

"Keep laughing, Reborn," Tsuna offered him a smile that actually did make the laughter cut off as Reborn stilled warily, "I'll put _you_ in as regent until I have time to deal with it."

Xanxus snickered, but since it was at Reborn's expense Tsuna decided to let it go as he dug out clean paper and started writing.

Reborn _drooped,_ and Tsuna took pity on him. He wouldn't _really_ make Reborn handle it on his own; that would be mean. However, he trusted Reborn more than he trusted most of his idiots with something like this, so he'd still have to oversee—he'd at least be good about keeping himself and Tsuna updated on what was actually going on with his new country. (Gah! New _countries_ were not something middle school kids were supposed to have to worry about! New crime syndicates were bad enough!)

Tsuna promptly dropped a list in front of him, with notes on the people, resources, government assets, military, and civilian things he needed to know about and a second list of people in the Sora and Triads who had to help clean up the mess they'd decided to go and acquire. There was no way the Sora had managed on their own, but Shī had better not have endorsed it, or he was more grounded than Kuro! (Shī, at least, should know better.)

(Reborn eyed the list and went from drooping to an evil smirk. He'd be fine.)

"All right," Tsuna stood up, deciding to ignore his smaller Sun, "How much still needs to be taken care of on the security front?"

Korea later. Security now. He very much doubted Korea was going anywhere—at least Kuro had gotten a basic governmental structure set up. Just because Tsuna was going to have final say didn't mean they couldn't handle themselves for a day or three.

(And after that, _Reborn_ could handle them for a while.)

 _xxxx_

Skull picked his way around stacks of paper in Squalo's office—he was obviously the glorified secretary of the Varia—hopped up onto what might be considered a visitor's chair, and politely waited until the Inverted Rain finished growling his way through a report and acknowledge him properly.

"What is it, mini-Cloud?"

Skull passed him four more folders, each with a target dossier inside, "We can't have these overlooked."

Squalo flipped the first one open and made an interesting face, "Yeah, no. I'll sort out an extra security detail with Kuro and Shī, and let the Vindice know if they don't already," he groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, "Who the hell knew announcing the Decimo would be this much trouble?"

Skull grinned, "Anyone who's lived with him for more than a month," he informed, deliberately chirpy just to see Squalo scowl.

Tsuna was bad for his sense of self-preservation. (Then again, none of Tsuna's would knowingly cause true harm to another of his, and since the Varia leader was Tsuna's, so were the rest of them. Skull had nothing to fear in these halls.)

 _xxxx_

 _*geondal or jopok are names for Korean organized crime gangs as opposed to kkangpae for unorganized street gangs/thugs, according to Wiki. (I am fully aware of the dangers of using Wiki as a source, but since I'm citing it...)_


	17. Mingling

_I'm alive and about a third of the way to being settled, so updates will continue to be short and somewhat sporadic. That aside, have a chapter!_

 _ **Mingling**_

Travail knew that Vongola was a big group, without a doubt the largest in the Italian Mafia. As such, there were a fair number of older, wealthier people high-up in the inner rankings who weren't bloodline but were quite used to having their opinions heard and, quite often, their orders followed.

Naturally, some of these were worried about an heir they had not only never met, but that internal rumor said was civilian. (Other rumors involved the Vindice's respect and giant animals. Since internal rumor also said that the Sun Arcobaleno had been hired as a tutor, the second part was not entirely unbelievable. The first, though, was patently ridiculous. What the majority of them didn't realize was that, ridiculous or not, it was true.)

It wasn't a surprise that a few of them approached some of the lower-ranking Varia to 'scout the mood', as it were, see if the Decimo candidate (of course Vongola proper couldn't keep a lid on where the Decimo was staying) was there because the Varia actually had some kind of regard for him or because the Nono had given an order.

The mutterings in the growing crowd ranged from incredulous to doubtful, but several Sora were winding effortlessly into the places with the darkest mutterings, making innocent-sounding inquiries that had the mutterers question their doubts.

(Jager skulking in the shadows near where Decimo was supposed to enter from, Bermuda on his shoulder, gave obvious credence to the Vindice having some kind of interest in the proceedings—and it was _weird_ that Travail could recognize two of the Vindice, even if they were the two highest-ranking.)

Shī of the First Triad, well-known even in Italy, merely smiled and ignored the attempts to find out the reason for his presence, from carefully-steered conversation to one blatant question as to what he was doing there.

Kuro of the Sora fell in beside the Triads' leader, managing to further baffle spectators who knew of the somewhat unstable relations between Triads and Yakuza and only knowing Kuro was Japanese (therefore likely Yakuza).

(Best guard duty ever. Travail hadn't had this much entertainment on the job in _years._ He couldn't wait to see the reactions when everyone realized that not only were Shī and Kuro there for the _exact same reason_ , but that they'd unified the Triads and Yakuza respectively, and quite happily handed them all over to Decimo—without initially knowing he had anything to do with Vongola, at that.)

There were no representatives from Korea, but considering the current state of Korean government and the fact that Travail wasn't entirely certain that the newly re-unified country even knew who their current ruler was, that was probably not just expected, but actively a good thing.

Still, just because there were allies (a few Triads' assassins were skulking the crowd, all but unnoticed in their easy mingling, and the mediating Sora strategically placed in case of emergency) and Vindice on their side was no reason to get complacent. Complacency was a quick ticket to Bad Things happening, and the capitals were usually warranted.

(Also, Decimo's family was here. A civilian woman and three children, one of whom was already targeted for kidnapping? Hostages were the absolute _last_ thing that Travail wanted to see happen. If Decimo petrified a monster that even Xanxus had called 'Flame-proof' just for concussing his more violent Cloud, he didn't want to know what would happen if someone put Decimo's kids in danger. Because seeing him with them? They were _his_ children, and his mother merely a young and doting grandmother-figure.)

 _xxxx_

"You ready, Brat?"

Tsuna made a sound of irritation and rolled his shoulders, checking his range of motion with the custom-tailored suit he'd been semi-coerced into and checking that his mittens were tucked away in a pocket. (He didn't actually need them to use his Flames, but while they looked ridiculous when not charged on Sky Flame, they provided a much-appreciated layer of protection for his skin when they _were._ Which made doing things like punching holes in concrete or catching punches from idiots less bruising.)

Xanxus nodded in approval at the check, although he would be providing Varia security and the likelihood of Tsuna needing to defend himself with that and everything the Triads and Sora had added was astronomically low. Especially when he added in four Arcobaleno (not including Mammon) and whatever Lal Mirch had pulled from the CEDEF. (He was going to take Xanxus at his word when he said Vongola security was 'shit'. Arrogance bred laziness, and Vongola security probably had the idea that no one would dare. Which meant if someone _did_ dare, they wouldn't be ready for it.)

Besides, Moeru was intent on being there. On the off-chance that someone did manage to get through security, Tsuna very much doubted they'd be able to land a hit.

"I guess," Tsuna sighed, _"More_ paperwork." He'd become intimately familiar with paperwork. The worst part was that doing paperwork meant he wasn't having to deal with the multitude of ridiculous things his lovable crazies got up to, which made it a break. Something seemed wrong with that.

Xanxus laughed at him, "You're the one who volunteered, Brat. Could have waited another couple years; no one would've held it against you."

Tsuna huffed, "By then this mess would have gotten even _worse._ Ugh, why can't our elders clean up their _own_ messes?"

"Because they're trash," Xanxus informed, as though that was an actual answer. "Come on, Brat. Show's about to start."

 _xxxx_

Mukuro found himself in the disconcerting position of very much _not_ liking the situation. Not that he should be misunderstood—he was fully capable of keeping his dear Tsunayoshi's Flames unnoticed amongst the crowd so long as the little Sky didn't feel the need to _use_ said Flames, but the idea of so many possible enemies surrounding the Transcendent was...

Well. Mukuro found himself agreeing with Xanxus on the declared response to any threats. (To be fair, Mukuro often found himself agreeing with Xanxus' position of 'see threat, kill threat', but admitting such agreement in the man's hearing was reserved for when mocking could be inserted alongside.)

Still, considering Mukuro had sought out Tsunayoshi with the initial intent of possessing him and seeing him on Vongola's throne had his dislike of this introduction of the Decimo and 'temporary' inauguration a bit more stinging.

But Tsunayoshi was so genuine, so cleanly unbloodied despite his recognition of the positions he kept gathering and his recognition that not everyone could be saved.

Which was ironic, considering he'd gone so far to save Mukuro and those he cared about. (Lancia was still gone, but Mukuro would have felt his death, so the man was alive wherever he was.) Still, Birds and the Bloody Twins had been consigned back to the Vindice, as had the girl. Tsunayoshi didn't bother to ask for clemency on their behalf, and Mukuro wasn't sure whether that was because they had no real meaning to him or because they were beyond redemption.

He wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know, either.

All that aside, Tsunayoshi was becoming immediate leader—however temporary—of Vongola. Mukuro had advocated that right up until it loomed so close, and he was suddenly having second thoughts.

None of them had need of the protection of Vongola's name—Tsunayoshi's Sora and Triads (Tsunayoshi could call the unified assassin groups Shī's all he wanted; they all knew who Shī answered to) would have rendered that moot even without the Vindice's support. As it was, he had all three, plus Korea which would no doubt fall into the same worshipful state all the other Eastern groups he'd amassed would.

And with all those thrones he'd taken, Vongola's was still bloodier, built with the bones of their enemies and forged in the blood of the forgotten dead.

While Mukuro had no doubt that his Sky could and would decimate that history, even if burning Vongola to the ground was the only answer, to see Tsunayoshi atop that tainted pedestal was... something he did not wish.

It was too late to change it now, though, and Tsunayoshi had already turned the bloodiest of Vongola's to his side, curbed their viciousness by curbing their leader's as easily as he'd soothed Mukuro's own.

(Ah, but they were all beasts beneath Tsunayoshi's gentle touch, lashing out in their pain until he took it away.)

And, oh, that throne was coveted and hated in turn by so many, and Tsunayoshi atop it would suddenly find himself in a proverbial sniper's sights. Mukuro had no time for morbid poetry, but he did not stand alone in defense of his Sky. Should hands be raised to harm, those hands would be severed with extreme prejudice... if not by Mukuro, then by one of the others.

For once, Mukuro found himself grateful for so many allies hidden in the crowd. They might have their work cut out for them, but Tsunayoshi would be _safe._

 _xxxx_


	18. Interlude III

_I apologize for the somewhat lengthly silence. There is an issue that I probably should have noticed earlier, but didn't - as my parents did help me move, they stayed a month in the cabin with me. As it happens, not only does the cabin not have normally-accessible internet (Dad was using his phone as a hotspot, and somehow it didn't occur to me that mine is not capable of the same), but it doesn't even have a land-line hookup and I have yet to find a service or hotspot provider that will actually claim to cover this area._

 _Which, of course, is what I get for moving to a not-town part of Alaska. Since it's a bit of a bother to head into town, I'll be updating less frequently. Also, as the cabin has not had winter occupants in some time (Mom and Dad would spend some time here in the summers, so at least the main bits are all working), there's quite a bit I need to do to make sure it's going to hold up under occupancy before the first snow hits. I don't want pipes bursting or anything like that-it's bad enough that I need to haul drinking water. Not a surprise, though, there's a fair amount of arcenides that were disturbed by mining in the area, which led to much of the groundwater being tainted with arsenic. The well is not safe to drink from, though it's fine for showers and the like._

 _So, I don't have much time to write at the moment. I'll likely have more during the actual winter, but getting to an internet connection is going to be a different question altogether._

 _ **Interlude III**_

Tsuna meandered the crowd, paying attention to both the mutterings (and of _course_ there were mutterings) and the careful actions of several he recognized as Sora. They recognized him, too, but aside from slight bows and 'Oyabun' greetings—he saw three stop themselves from calling him 'Juudiame' and another two cut off his name at the 'tsu' before switching forms of address—they did no more than keep a general awareness of his location in the crowd.

Several Triads assassins were slinking through as well, generally unnoticed, and a few of the off-duty Varia glanced at him but otherwise didn't give him any acknowledgement. Which was good, since the Varia were the only ones that were known to have some kind of association with him, and being acknowledged by him before the actual ceremony started could theoretically cause problems.

Which was actually the reason that Takeshi was at his side, and not Gokudera-kun. The Storm was known where the Rain was not, and with the 'Oyabun' title bandied about, he would be expected to have a subordinate close to hand.

The fact that both of them were young teens would have been a bit of a problem, except-well, Mukuro accounted for that, and distracted from it. Because Mukuro was thorough like that.

All in all, there were a few that Tsuna didn't like the feel of, and he pointed them out to Reborn (and, yes, he knew his overprotective Sun was watching him) with a subtle hand-gesture that said Sun had told him to use.

As for the rest of his Elements... he wasn't sure he wanted to know, but since nothing had blown up and he didn't hear any shouting aside from Ryohei's normal speaking voice, he was willing to assume the more responsible ones (Lal, specifically) were keeping the majority of the others out of trouble.

Not that Skull or I-pin would get _into_ trouble, and Gokudera had been getting a lot better about his temper, but Ryohei was a bit clumsy and forgot his strength, and Mukuro—actually, Mukuro had his attention on crowd-control with Chrome. Takeshi was in his sharp-eyed 'hitman' mode, as Reborn had called it, and at his own side. Hibari, on the other hand... well. Tsuna just thanked the gods for Fon, because Hibari was a wildcard at the best of times, and since he didn't have the time to watch his volatile Cloud himself, he was eminently grateful that Fon was almost as good at calming Hibari as Sky Flames.

Or Hibird.

 _Anyway,_ so far he was able to make his way through the masses with no more attention drawn than a few semi-polite greetings (on the parts of the Mafiosi) and more genuinely polite greetings (usually on his own side or the sides of Triads and Sora.)

Thinking of, there were his main group-wranglers, both of whom he was still mildly annoyed with. That in mind, he changed trajectories and put on a cheerful smile, "Ah, Kuro! Shī-san! It's good to see you both!"

The simultaneous cringes were entirely too satisfying.

"Ah... Tiānzi..." Shī offered, bowing apologetically.

Kuro looked like a shamed puppy and the only reason he didn't hit the floor dogenza-style was the crowd, "I'm sorry, Juudaime! Please forgive me!"

Since both were speaking in their respective native tongues (at least, Tsuna was fairly sure they were), he carefully replied in Japanese. "Yes, yes, I'm annoyed with you both. We can deal with that some other time. For now, I really _am_ glad you're here, and getting along so well."

"It is... _difficult,_ to dislike someone as devoted to you as Kuro-san is," Shī informed, switching to Japanese himself.

"He's still a jerk," Kuro informed. "He's just a likeable jerk."

Tsuna beamed at them, "Aw, you're _friends_ now!"

He might have to forgive them the Korea stunt for that, because while they had been solidly allied and willing to work with each other before, now they had stopped eying each other like they were debating the merits of a fistfight.

Kuro and Shī both reddened, looking away from him and each other.

They were _adorable._ He really was going to have to forgive them. He wasn't going to tell them that until later, though. And they would still have to help with the government.

 _xxxx_

It had been Reborn's idea to have Tsuna slip in with the crowd before the actual ceremony started. With a number of both the Sora and the Triads mingled in, as well as the Arcobaleno scattered about (Viper had even managed to drag in Verde and get Bermuda to snag Colonnello from Mafia Land) and the Varia, Tsuna would probably be fine.

... also, there was something wrong with the world that having a mythological fire-bird hanging out on Tsuna's shoulder with a snake in its feathers was a _reassurance._

(Reborn couldn't help but keep tabs on Tsuna anyway, and he was _really glad_ that Tsuna had some talented Mists on his side because none of the Mafiosi had noticed the power of his Sky. Between Viper and Tsuna's not-twins that might as well be and the fact that Tsuna wasn't currently using his Flames, it was apparently a 'simple matter' to keep him mostly unnoticed.)

Colonnello's presence had been neatly directed by Lal's barked orders, but Verde was clearly resentful and sulking in a corner.

Reborn smirked, his target sighted. That annoying scientist needed to learn his relative place in the ceremony—specifically bodyguard—and agree to it. He might be an amoral pain, but he _did_ adhere to his agreements, no matter how grudgingly.

All Reborn had to do was convince him before the show started, and Viper said he had managed to weasel out of a verbal agreement and the Mist wasn't too keen on forcing the matter in a way that would render the Lightning useless.

He watched Tsuna move into the immediate presence of Kuro and Shī, considered the relative placement of several of Tsuna's as well as a few 'off duty' Varia, and glanced at Leon. He had ten more minutes, and Tsuna was reasonably well protected with the minions and Takeshi.

Reborn's smirk turned predatory and he started to move towards the Lightning Arcobaleno. (Ten minutes was _plenty_ of time to convince him.)

 _xxxx_

Tsuna had just made his way to the side room that lead out to the raised dais for the ceremony when he heard Reborn using his 'affectionate teaching voice'. That is, the kind where he was insulting and demeaning and hitting people on the head.

"Stupid Dino, what have I told you about being on time? A good Boss is never late!"

He couldn't help but smile slightly. He'd missed Dino, and the warm furl of his sunny sort of Sky was a welcome addition to the nearby Flames.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't miss my little brother's introduction, though!"

Reborn made a distinctive 'che' sound, but let the matter drop far more quickly than Tsuna had expected, and Coyote-san stepped over to gesture Tsuna in the door. His eyes weren't as hard or as wary as they'd been a few days before, and Tsuna took that as a good thing.

He straightened his shoulders, sent Moeru to get his Ring Guardians (who had been instructed to gather at the back so the bird could get them all at once), and stepped out on the dais, nodding to the others His Own as he did so.

"This is Tsunayoshi Sawada, my heir," Timoteo introduced, using a tone that was simultaneously grand and matter-of-fact.

Predictably, that was when everything went just a little pear-shaped.

 _xxxx_

"That wasn't too bad," Tsuna decided aloud once the guests had been dismissed, the troublemakers escorted out by—interestingly—Dino, Dino's Elements, and the Vindice, and the worst of the mess being cleaned up (Gokudera was playing taskmaster/heavy lifter with the majority of the Varia Elite and most of Tsuna's Guardians, although Hibari had vanished into the rafters and Mukuro was still standing with Tsuna, the Arcobaleno, Shī, and Xanxus.)

Reborn huffed but didn't disagree, and Xanxus only snorted. Most of the others either made noncommittal sounds or agreeing ones, but Colonnello—as neither of the not-technically-affiliated Arcobaleno had been returned to where they'd come from and Verde was busy being in shock over his entire worldview being shattered—turned to stare.

"Someone tried to _kill you_ ," he stated, somewhere between flat and incredulous.

"A lot of people seem to do that," Tsuna agreed.

Xanxus and Mukuro shifted guiltily and Shī blushed.

Tsuna grinned, "They don't seem to try twice, though, so that's okay."

Colonnello opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. Failed to come up with a response.

Lal was slightly more articulate and still new to the warping of reality that surrounded him. "That's _not_ okay, Tsunayoshi," she growled. "You shouldn't be so accepting of them trying the _first_ time!"

Also infected with the new-Harmony attitude, Tsuna noted. Although that might just be a general 'my Sky' attitude, considering Reborn, Fon, Mukuro, and Xanxus. Skull was more subtle about it, though clingy, and Hibari was... um. _Hibari._ Although he liked to sleep in Tsuna's general vicinity, and tended to make content little humming sounds whenever Tsuna let his Flames blanket the area. And also got a little more violent in his 'bite to death'-ness when Tsuna was actually in danger, judging by the way he'd gone after the Flame-proof monster.

Tsuna was grateful that most of his were slightly less obvious in their overprotectiveness, although the worship from his cult was a bit... yeah, he was pretty sure Gokudera was High Priest, there, but he was _not asking_.

Still. "No, it's really fine, Lal-san," Tsuna offered a bright smile, "If they still want to try again after that, I can always ask Mukuro and Chrome to have a chat with them."

Mukuro perked up, "Oh, Darling, you give me such _wonderful_ presents."

Tsuna turned a suspicious eye on him, "You won't leave Chrome out, will you?"

She was finally starting to get over her initial self-esteem issues, and he wouldn't have her position as co-head of Internal Security (which included interrogation, much as Tsuna despised the need) infringed on, not even by the other co-head.

Mukuro looked insulted. (Tsuna didn't believe him even a little, since Mukuro was almost as protective of Chrome as he was of Tsuna, but even though she was much less obvious about it, the two of them had a _lot_ more in common than just looks and Flame-type.) "Of course not, Tsunayoshi dear. I'll have sweet Chrome at my side the whole time."

 _That,_ Tsuna could believe. Mukuro would definitely feel better about it if he was in a position to handle any direct attacks. Chrome was a good illusionist already, of course, and not a bad close-range fighter, but she was only beginning her training in that area and Mukuro was naturally much better from sheer experience.

Tsuna beamed, "Great! Don't forget to report back to Gokudera-kun when you're finished, and let Takeshi know if you need any outside support. I'm sure Bermuda would be willing to let you know who you'll need to talk to for me. Oh, and _ask me_ before setting Hibari-san on anything, please. I don't need to be dealing with collateral, and this isn't Namimori."

Lal blinked at the exchange, clearly taken aback, and Colonnello gaped outright. "You're a scary kid, kora."

Reborn smirked and hopped to Tsuna's shoulder, patting his hair affectionately. "You've come so far, my student."

Tsuna turned his head just enough to give Reborn a one-eyed glare, "And _you,_ Reborn. You and _Fon."_

Fon, standing off to the side with his hands folded serenely into his sleeves (having clearly been enjoying watching the entertainment unfold), _froze._

Reborn tried looking innocent.

He succeeded, but Tsuna wasn't fooled. "You two broke _The Rules_."

Reborn drooped a bit and Fon ducked his head, both of them going quiet.

Xanxus paused, then _very carefully_ stepped back, Shī and a suspiciously silent Mammon following suit.

Colonnello stilled, wide-eyed, and Lal looked back and forth between the groups in confused worry.  
Tsuna plucked Reborn from his shoulder and walked over to set him down next to Fon, giving them both his most disappointed look, backed with a wave of disapproval in his Flames, carefully contained to the two in trouble.

They visibly wilted.

"We'll talk about it later," Tsuna decided. "For now, you know what you should be doing. Go do it."

They glanced at each other and trudged off, the picture of dejected children, but Tsuna had to let them stew for a while before he forgave them or they'd _never_ learn. That was the problem with trying to enforce good behavior in people who were already set in their ways. Even _Gokudera_ was more reliably well-behaved, and considering his upbringing, that was a minor miracle.

Tsuna sighed, shaking his head. "Those two... well. I still need to speak with Kuro and Shī, and there's a lot to sort out to clean up Vongola's mess, too. Ugh, they couldn't have picked a _better_ time to get destructive?"

Shī also froze, looking a bit wide-eyed, and Kuro popped back in from the doorway, extremely nervous but compliant after having heard Tsuna say his name. At least he _usually_ stayed out of trouble.

"I'm still a bit annoyed about the Korea stunt," Tsuna told them both, and they wilted just as visibly as Reborn and Fon had even without having his Flames backing up the statement. "But since you two actually decided to work together without me having to tell you to, I'm inclined to let it go. You will both be working with Reborn on managing until I have time to set things up properly, though. I don't have time to deal with it right now."

Shī's shoulders eased slightly and Kuro visibly relaxed, both relieved that he wasn't going to turn the you-have-disappointed-me Flames on them. Apparently, at least according to Mukuro (who was remarkably straightforward when asked a direct question about such things, at least if Tsuna was the one doing the asking) they were a lot worse than torture.

Chrome said it was because it felt like they'd let down everyone who mattered at once, and didn't know what to do to fix it.

(Tsuna was just glad it was an effective deterrent. If he didn't have one of those, his crazies would be even harder to corral.)

Lal blinked, "Korea was your people?"

Shī coughed lightly, "Tiānzi was unconscious from massive Flame depletion. There was a doctor in Korea researching artificial ways to aid in Flame-recovery."

Kuro gave a sheepish shrug, "It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Tsuna _sighed._

"Morons didn't even know which Korea to look in," Squalo informed, leaning in the doorway with a grin. "So they just took over them both."

"Uh... is that why Viper was complaining that you're king of a newly restructured country?" Colonnello asked, looking somewhat disoriented.

"Um, no, I think that was because I asked for help with figuring out the budget," Tsuna decided, because Mammon didn't seem to care _whose_ country it was, so long as there was no need for the Arcobaleno Mist to interfere. "Anyway, there's still a lot to do. Xanxus, can you leave a couple of the Varia here to make sure this keeps getting cleaned up?"

Xanxus cast a glance at where Ryohei was trying to get Takeshi into an 'extreme' cleaning contest and grimaced. "... I know they're formerly civilian brats," he informed, "...but I think my street-rat assassins are closer to sane."

Tsuna considered that. Considered his younger group as a whole, the crazy that was his own life, and the fact that Reborn, Fon, and Xanxus had been the least crazy of his Elements before Lal came along and now she was probably ranked somewhere in there with the relatively sane ones.

He nodded, "You're probably right."

(He wouldn't have it any other way.)

 _xxxx_

 _There will be more on the rather obvious missing scene when I have time, but most of it is going to end up in 'Mythos' from varying points of view. I_ will _try, but timing has no promises._


	19. Namimori Style

_So, this is short, and no new myths, and also kind of sketched more than well-thought-through, but. Here. I feel like the myths were starting to come too close together, time-wise, and so that's been handled by a month break in the general feel of the early chapters. So there._

 ** _Namimori Style_** _  
(Because Vongola is no longer the craziest group out there)_

Apart from the somewhat expected hostile interruption to the introduction ceremony—and, no it _wasn't_ an inauguration, thank you very much, Tsuna had no intention of this takeover being permanent yet, he wasn't even out of _middle school_ —the month of ruling Vongola actually went pretty smoothly.

Timoteo had opted for the 'real vacation' option (which Tsuna and Timoteo's Sun agreed was probably better for his health and stress-levels) and gone on a civilian cruise. This meant Mafia news would only reach him if it were either deliberately sought or imparted, and he'd be able to not worry about it at all. Tsuna had his work cut out for him straightening out the mess that was the paperwork, the department heads, the appalling inefficiency, the fact that there were several spies in the service staff (apparently no one was brave enough to try for infiltrating communications or security, which was something, at any rate), but it wasn't as much of a mess as organizing a bunch of formerly unconnected Yakuza groups, so it was comparatively simple.

(Oh, gods, his perception of 'simple' was now horribly skewed. Also, he still had to sort out the Triads—although Shī had at least started with that—and freaking _Korea_. Criminal groups were bad enough, why had they gotten him an actual _country?_ )

Anyway, the month did pass relatively smoothly, with only a few hitch-ups involving the rogue CEDEF outpost in Paris, the boundary-testing one in Madrid, and some Vongola-allied Famiglie that were breaking contract on the side. Between actual Vongola personnel (which had needed a firm hand to prove he wasn't going to put up with any nonsense) and a few Sora and Varia to keep them in line, those situations were handled both fairly quietly and efficiently.

(There was also the normal Vongola madness, apparently, but since Tsuna's Own—oh, gods, he'd been spending too much time talking to Kuro-san; he was picking up _cult wording_ —were the worst of the lot and already knew and appreciated The Rules, it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd feared it would be. Of course, Reborn hadn't expounded on the joys of chaos in Vongola for a while... perhaps because it seemed that Tsuna's usual crazies had outstripped it. That... should have felt like a more terrible thought than it did. And they were still efficient!)

Tsuna did so love efficiency. It made his life less stressful.

He did send Lal back to the CEDEF to keep and eye on things—and because he wasn't up to dealing with Iemitsu until he had less to worry about—but she was as welcome as any other to spend any and all free time in his general vicinity. Since CEDEF headquarters wasn't far from Vongola Mansion, this wasn't much of a problem, although Tsuna was reasonably sure that Moeru would be more than happy to teleport her if the distance had been greater. He claimed to enjoy the travel, and bringing people Tsuna liked to him was apparently a bonus.

(Also, the khe-ti had only left his feathers to sleep since he'd taken to wearing her, but that was neither here nor there.)

Still, when the month was up, Tsuna was more than happy to pass control back to Timoteo and take an extra week to make sure the man and his Guardians knew who to call for what, who should be doing what paperwork, and all the changes that had been made while he was off on his cruise. (And, though only a select few knew it, mediate a good long talk between Xanxus and Timoteo. Because Timoteo was inept about it, but he _did_ actually love his son. And Xanxus didn't hate his father, he was just angry about years of lies. And Tsuna knew that Xanxus _wanted_ to make it at least better than it was, even if he had no idea where to start.)

At first Timoteo had been taken aback by everything, and then two things became abundantly clear: things were, as a general rule, getting done much more smoothly and a whole lot less paperwork was needing to cross the Boss' desk.

(He was pretty sure the Ninth generation were impressed somewhere under all the shock, but he and his still had to get back to Japan so he and his Guardians could catch up on the school they'd all missed. His more extended group of Elements... well, it was a good thing Moeru liked taking them places so much, because Tsuna wanted _visits_. Xanxus still had Varia to wrangle, after all, and Lal said she'd keep keeping an eye on the CEDEF, just to make sure it didn't fall too far into bad habits. On that note, Tsuna was still going to have to deal with Iemitsu eventually, even if he had managed to avoid it while sorting out the mess that was Vongola.

 _Ugh_.

Unlike Xanxus, he didn't particularly care about fixing that relationship, seeing as how there wasn't actually a relationship to fix... but Kaa-san loved Iemitsu and was horribly hurt to find out he'd lied, and _that_ needed to be addressed.

Tsuna wasn't looking forward to it.)

 _xxxx_

Gokudera had been surprised to find how much he was enjoying being back in Italy—he hadn't expected it, after all, as most of his memories of the place were tainted with loss and betrayal and fear and loneliness and desperation, but...

With Juudaime? It was... _nice,_ to be back where he could speak in his first language—he was comfortable enough with Japanese, but Italian still came more easily to him—and he'd missed the reds and golds of Italy's countryside, the colors making the greens of living plants stand out all the more brightly.

Without that constant desperation-edged anger and unending fight to make himself a place in a world that wouldn't think twice about killing him, the land itself was something he'd missed.

(Also, he didn't have to be the Smoking Bomb Hayato anymore. He could be Juudiame's Gokudera-kun, treasured not for his skills but just for himself. That he could have that and his homeland at the same time... well, he knew he'd always, _always_ choose Juudiame over location, but having both was still nice.)

Then Juudiame came to him, looking unhappy, and Gokudera felt a familiar angry trepidation rising in him. What had put that look on his Sky's face? "Juudiame?"

Juudiame sighed, "Gokudera-kun, would you mind coming with me when I speak to Iemitsu? I'm not entirely comfortable being in a room with him by myself."

Iemitsu—the head of the CEDEF. Juudiame's sire, the one he conceded was blood but denied as family. No _wonder_ he didn't look happy. The anger he felt on his Sky's behalf was mixed with a warm thrill of happiness that Juudiame trusted him with something like this, and he didn't even hesitate. "Of course, Juudiame! I'd be honored to stand by your side!"

He got a wan smile for that, and a soft wash of gratitude alongside a tired resignation in the Sky Flames enfolding him like a warm hug. Juudiame was either getting really good at controlling his Flames, or no longer holding them under control around His Own, and it was really hard to tell which. Although it made it easier to tell exactly how Juudiame was feeling at any given point in time.

"It's not until later today," Juudiame informed. "He's supposed to come here at two this afternoon. For now, I'm going to go eat lunch—did you want to join me?"

He hadn't had lunch himself, yet, and the last tweaks to the Sora's latest mainland expansion could wait. "Of course!"

The heavier weight in Juudiame's Flames lightened with a happy sort of cheer, and Gokudera very carefully _didn't_ look at the smile he knew was directed his way. He loved his Sky, and he very much liked it when Juudiame was happy, but that smile made it a little hard to keep track of his feet.

(Fortunately for Gokudera's pride, he'd noticed Juudiame's happy smile had that effect on everyone who saw it, even Reborn, Xanxus, and the _Vindice,_ so it was something to do with Juudiame's amazingness and not some weakness of Gokudera's.)

Later, the meeting with the CEDEF Boss didn't actually go... all that badly. Juudiame was tired by the end of it, that kind of tired that came from dealing with something emotionally stressful but not physically taxing, but not quite as tense, and Iemitsu had been... professional. (Lal Mirch probably had something to do with that—she'd have warned him against upsetting their Sky.)

Gokudera had kept his own Flames hot beneath his skin all the same, just in case, and Juudiame leaned into him briefly when the office door closed behind Iemitsu, the ever-present expanse of his Sky curling close like a cuddle. "Thanks, Gokudera-kun," Juudiame murmured in that language that was unique to him but it seemed everyone understood.

Gokudera faintly wondered if it was hard for Juudiame to speak Japanese, now, because he seemed to default to what had broadly become known as 'AllSpeak', but mostly he wondered what he'd done to warrant Flame-cuddles and thanks. "Juudiame?" he asked.

"Mm," Juudiame hummed, "It was really reassuring, to have you here," he explained. "Iemitsu... Kaa-san really loves him, even if she's hurt by how he's not there. She was really upset about him lying, too, but not _angry._ It's not in her nature to get angry at people she loves, and it would make her sad if I kept him away from her. So I have to at least _try_ to get along with him, and having you here made it easier to keep calm."

Gokudera could feel himself blushing, because the thought that Juudiame found his presence reassuring despite the fact that Juudiame was the strongest person he knew and that Gokudera wasn't even the strongest of those who called Juudiame 'my Sky'. "Um, you're welcome?" he blushed more as his voice cracked into a squeak, because not only did it make him sound like a girl, it made the intended statement come out as a question.

Juudiame beamed at him.

He didn't manage to avoid looking, and tripped over his own feet even though they'd been standing still.

(Juudiame's confused pout was immediately followed by a hand up, and the warm furl of Sky stretched out over the whole mansion, clearly checking up on everyone within.

Juudiame was _amazing.)_

 _xxxx_

 _I felt like I've been neglecting Gokudera, so he got some screen time. I seem to have trouble tracking large numbers of characters at once, but sooner or later they should all get at least a little bit of input in the story. Also, Gokudera feels less like a puppy from his own point of view._


	20. Yako

Hi! So, still alive. Again, have no internet where I currently live and am still pretty busy, but I managed a town-trip with extra time today, so I brought you guys a present. Well, one and a half - there's a very short Mythos chapter also ready to go up. On that note, this is another Myth multi-part, despite the nomenclature. Consider it part one of 'Kitsune'

 ** _Yako_**  
 _ **Fox** spirits, specifically those not sworn to a service. They are field foxes, sometimes nogitsune, and because they lack a directed purpose, they tend to be more dangerous than other kitsune. It is not that yako are inherently evil; they simply don't have a greater force imposing rules, and they are very, very inhuman. What they find amusing or even think helpful can often cause trouble for human neighbors, and misunderstandings between any youkai and a human can easily end in violent death. However, fox spirits in general—oft under the blanket-name 'kitsune'—are probably the best known youkai simply because they've managed to end up in some very popular anime and manga, and thus cross quite a few borders; country, language, and culture included. It's a general belief that_ all _foxes have some basic supernatural abilities, at least either shape-changing or illusionary disguise, which is in some ways closer to animal lore than actual mythology._

 _xxxx_

"Ah, it's good to be back!" Takeshi decided, grinning as he stretched his arms above his head, then waved confusedly back at a girl he didn't know who waved at him first about half a block away before she skipped off on her way. He half-shrugged to himself, dismissing the strangeness as just another Namimori quirk and returned his attention to the enthusiastic Sun. "I've missed Namimori!"

"I extremely have, too!" Ryohei agreed, raising his fists in challenge to nothing in particular—or possibly in salute to the girl who wasn't looking in their direction anymore as she skipped off down a side-street while giving their group no further attention. "And now I know that Kyoko's extremely all right!"

Takeshi laughed, "The Sora would never let anything happen to your little sister, Turf-top!" he pointed out, to which Ryohei gave a conceding nod as the sister in question laughed, too.

"He's right! A lot of the wives took turns checking up on me every day, and Nana and Haru and the kids, too! We were all fine, Nii-san."

"I extremely know that!" Ryohei bellowed at his usual volume, "It's why I didn't ask Tsuna if we could extremely take you with us!"

"I don't think I would have liked it much," Kyoko admitted, pausing at the hallway where Takeshi and her would break off for their classroom while Turf-top went towards his. "Oh, hey, look! Tsuna-kun's here with Gokudera-kun!"

Takeshi had already noticed that, actually, the wash of comfortable warmth he associated with Tsuna's presence having swelled with proximity, backed by the prickly sort of edge that came with the bomber, but there was no way he was going to miss out on a 'good morning'! He turned to grin at both of them and Ryohei beat him to said greeting with a cheery shout of, "Lil'bro! Octopus Head! Extremely good morning!"

"Argh, stop calling me that, Turf-top!" Gokudera made his usual growly sound, but it had at some point lost the edge of defensive anger it had once held, and Takeshi laughed aloud.

"Morning Tsuna! Gokudera!"

Tsuna beamed right back, and Takeshi quickly blinked his eyes shut in defense against the scattered sparkles, managing to avoid losing his balance. He heard Ryohei wobble beside him and Kyoko made a startled sound and bumped into his shoulder. Had she never been subjected to one of those smiles before?

Still, Tsuna was happy and the bright warmth of Sky was wrapping him up with the same affection and gentle protectiveness as his mother's hugs once had, and Takeshi was sharply reminded why this tiny little fluffy teen was someone he would follow into death and beyond.

... The baseball team would be expecting him back, but he didn't have the time to devote to baseball and still get his sword-skills up so that the terrible moment of Tsuna's Flames going dim never repeated itself. It was bad enough how they'd gone nearly out, barely sparks of embers against the summer-warm expanse they usually were, but if that bright warmth ever vanished _entirely..._

He might still give the team a hand in practice sometimes, but he'd have to tell them he wasn't coming back. They—and the sport itself—weren't worth nearly as much as Tsuna, and baseball skills wouldn't help Tsuna at all, but Squalo had proved that a sword was as good as a gun in the hands of a Rain in the Mafia. Better, even, because he could use the edge of the blade to launch out waves that could take out great numbers at once, and he was no Cloud or Reborn to pull that off with bullets.

Tsuna glanced at him, eyes flickering orange, and then he gave a smile that wasn't one of his happy beams of disorienting cheer. It was small, acknowledging—gratitude touched by a flicker of sadness, and Takeshi knew that Tsuna knew what he'd been thinking.

He grinned back, glad that his Sky had accepted his decision without even a word needing to be said, and answered the sadness that couldn't be allowed to stay. "You're worth way more than any sport, Tsuna! I don't need baseball if I've got you!"

Gokudera and Kyoko both blinked at the statement they clearly had no idea of the reason for, but Turf-top took it with his usual attitude. "You extremely are worth more than any sport, Lil'bro!" he agreed, before looking at his taped fists, "... but I can't protect you unless I can extremely fight, so I'll keep boxing anyway."

Takeshi laughed, because the soft sadness faded out of the warmth, replaced by fond amusement, and sometimes Turf-top's constant state of rash thoughtlessness was just the thing to cheer _everyone_ up. Takeshi had discovered that every time he called the Mafia a 'game', it made genuine distress flicker into Tsuna's Flames, which had been the exact _opposite_ of his intent, so he'd stopped (this had the fringe benefit of getting Gokudera to call him an idiot less often), but he was pretty easygoing by nature for the most part.

Still, Reborn called him a 'natural hitman', and Takeshi knew himself well enough to know that... wasn't actually wrong. Tsuna was precious, and to be protected in any way he could. Tsuna loved his people, so he'd be sad if they—including Takeshi himself—were hurt. This was unacceptable, and Takeshi would gladly fight to protect Tsuna's smile. If necessary, he would kill to protect Tsuna and Tsuna's heart, and he wouldn't hesitate or regret it. Tsuna was precious, and the others closest to Tsuna's heart—the ones that Reborn called 'in the same Sky'—were important, too. But Tsuna was _most_ important, and Takeshi would sooner drown the world in blood than let anyone hurt him. If that meant he was a hitman, then he'd be a hitman for Tsuna. And Tsuna's eyes flickered sunset-orange, and the slightly sad gratitude flickered in his Flames, and Takeshi knew that Tsuna knew, and accepted him anyway.

"Herbivores, you are crowding," Came the familiar growl, and the sadness flitted to resigned amusement and subtle delight, and Tsuna turned his stun-beam smile on Hibari with a brightly cheerful greeting.

Hibari's stride faltered just a bit, and Takeshi could only laugh. "Sorry, sorry! We'll head to class as soon as Tsuna's ready!"

Hibari made a grumpy-sounding huff but the tonfa stayed wherever it was that they hid when he wasn't using them, and Tsuna's Sky swamped the Cloud in a clear health-check that was his habit if the violent prefect had been out of sight for more than an hour.

(Hibari glowered but didn't protest, and that was proof that Hibari would protect Tsuna and Tsuna's heart, too.)

Gokudera bristled at Hibari in something that looked more like habit than ire, and Takeshi grinned as Tsuna waved his hands placatingly and herded them and a somewhat mystified Kyoko towards their classroom while prompting Ryohei to head towards his, and the wash of Sky flared to cover the whole building in a quick sweep before pulling in close to hum gently under Tsuna's skin, and all was right with Takeshi's world.

(Until that bastard Nezu insulted Tsuna as they walked in, anyway, but that was a different story.)

 _xxxx_

Tsuna wasn't surprised when Nezu was a problem, or that Gokudera, Takeshi, and Chrome were all upset by it. He _was_ surprised when Mukuro spoke up from the doorway (he'd sensed him but dismissed it, so used to Mukuro's skulking that the presence hadn't registered as odd, which it should have, because _school)._ "Kufufufu," came the familiar creepy chuckle that had Chrome brightening, Takeshi giving something between a gleeful smile and a wince, and Gokudera tensing in preemptive irritation.

"Is this the the level of professionalism I should expect from Japan's teachers?" Mukuro asked, his cuttingly mocking tongue turned on a target that had Gokudera blinking twice before smirking and sitting back. "That they mock and belittle students?"

The entire class kind of paused, frowns passing between classmates as they seemed to register, for the first time, that Nezu's attitude towards Tsuna was not something a teacher should be doing.

Even after taking over an increasing number of responsibilities, Tsuna had declined to make an issue of it, actually taking Gokudera aside shortly after Venna had shown and telling him not to make trouble over it because Nezu simply wasn't worth the difficulties with the school it would cause.

Gokudera had obeyed the gentle order, but was still visibly unhappy every time Nezu belittled Tsuna. Takeshi usually diverted the teacher's attention to himself, which Tsuna was upset about and grateful for in roughly equal measure, but it made it easier for Gokudera to keep from pulling out the dynamite or getting himself into trouble with the school, so he never did anything but wince. Takeshi took his role as a peacemaker both naturally and seriously, diffusing situations and diverting attention where he could, and Tsuna _was_ grateful for it.

(The Storm's role was to attack, according to Vongola, but sometimes attacking just wasn't what was needed, and Gokudera was only _mostly_ a Storm. Tsuna could feel other flavors to his Flames depending on his mood, and was wondering if Gokudera-kun could learn to use them, too.)

Still, Mukuro was standing in the classroom doorway with Ken and Chikusa behind him, all three in _Nami-chuu uniforms_ and blatantly questioning a teacher's professionalism.

Also, Hibari wasn't coming down like the wrath of a god, so that trip to Italy had some serious impacts. Tsuna wasn't sure whether to smile or groan, but Mukuro was very good at picking out pride and immediately using his knowledge as a verbal weapon.

Nezu flushed to his hair in something between fury and embarrassment, and then apparently decided to pretend nothing had happened as one of the central office aides stepped into the doorway beside Mukuro. "I'm sorry for the lack of forewarning, Nezu-sensei," she said, although her tone was just a little clipped. "The paperwork was mishandled and thus when these three transfers came in, we hadn't been aware that it was supposed to be their first day. Rokudo Mukuro-san, Ken Joshima-san, and Kakimoto Chikusa-san are recently from Italy."

Mukuro strode into the classroom with easy confidence, meeting Chrome's bright, "Mukuro-sama!" with a "Dear Chrome," before turning his smile on Tsuna, "Ah, darling Tsunayoshi. You are allowing this... _teacher,"_ he managed to inject the word with a vast wealth of skeptical contempt, "liberties such as your uncle would likely kill him for."

Tsuna spent a half-second wondering what on earth he was talking about, registered that Nono had asked him to call him 'Nonno', and taking Timoteo as a grandfather would make Xanxus an uncle, and _winced._ "Please don't tell Xanxus," he managed, "Nezu-san may be disrespectful but he is still a civilian, and I don't want my overprotective uncle _actually_ shooting him. It was hard enough to keep Gokudera-kun from finding somewhere to hide a body."

"Che," Ken scoffed, slinking in with somewhat less wariness than he once might have shown, and Tsuna took a moment to aim a reassuring wave of Sky to the doorway, which made Ken and Chikusa both scowl and otherwise refuse to acknowledge it. "Why would he need to find a place? The Sora would take care of it gladly."

Which. Well. Yeah, they would. "He is a _civilian,"_ Tsuna repeated firmly.

Chikusa huffed but was the first to give acquiescence, "That is true. Civilians are not to be harmed unless they are physically attacking," he conceded, which Tsuna had been forced to include in The Rules due to a combination of factors that basically boiled down to the fact that most of his people were easily incited to violence.

Mukuro scowled slightly, because Tsuna had been _very_ thorough on his definition of 'harm' and he wouldn't be able to get away with traumatizing illusions.

Then Tsuna realized that they were in the classroom and the only people who expected him to show an kind of competence were other students, and—actually, with the three in the doorway, a fairly large percentage of the class. Still, the rest of the class and Nezu himself were ranging between disbelieving and incensed. Fortunately the office aide was enough of a deterring presence to keep Nezu acting with some level of professionalism, and they managed to get class started without any actual breakdowns in reality.

(Tsuna loved his people. His people loved him back. The only problem with that was the fact that his people were mostly violent and overprotective, and Tsuna went to school with a bunch of casually cruel civilians. Keeping everyone unbroken was going to be a _chore.)_

 _xxxx_

Reborn finished up his full report on Korea and what he, the Triads, and the Sora had done to keep the rather unstable setup from either imploding or _ex_ ploding while Tsuna was busy with sorting Vongola and complied it all in a handheld computer of a style that likely wouldn't be available to the general populace for years. That finished, he checked the time and nodded to himself before gathering up Fuuta, I-pin, and Lambo to bring to Nami-chuu for lunch with Tsuna.

Tsuna had definitely been glad to have those three back in his sight, and Reborn was going to take full advantage of how much they improved his Sky's mood when he handed over what was going to be a headache and a half. An _expected_ headache and a half, but a headache and a half all the same.

(There was also the fact that he _knew_ how Tsuna's schoolmates and even some of his teachers treated him, and now that he was no longer contract-bound not to directly interfere _and_ no longer denying that Tsuna was his Sky, he would be a lot more tempted to _do—something—_ about it. And then Tsuna would be mad at him. And people in general and civilians in particular had this tendency to be more polite when small children were anywhere near the equation.)

Halfway there, he noticed a strange girl peering at them from about a block away, her eyes bouncing from Reborn to Fuuta to Lambo and then finally to I-pin before she apparently decided it wasn't either her business or a problem (she was a little too far to read the smaller nuances of her expression without visual augmentation of some kind) and turned to skip away rather like the Haru girl did.

Reborn noted her appearance just in case—he didn't recognize her, but they _had_ been gone over a month and he didn't know every schoolgirl in Namimori; he only bothered with the civilian children that lived within three blocks of pertinent homes. She could be visiting or have recently moved, though none of the houses he specifically kept an eye on had changed owners. The Haru-style bounce and the way she'd dismissed them made him less inclined to think she was an enemy, but better safe than sorry, so he wouldn't forget her face.

And then she was out of sight, and Fuuta was asking if they were really going to see Tsuna-nii, and Reborn herded the lot of them a little faster so they'd get there right as the lunch bell rang.

Not surprisingly, Hibari appeared at the gate as they came through, ignoring the scattering of students pausing in the doorway of the building on their way to favored eating-spots. He eyed them each in turn, nodded, and said "The Omnivore is on the roof with the Herd."

Reborn nodded back politely—Hibari's respect had taken a while to earn, and there was no need to purposefully aggravate him. "Thank you, Hibari. Will you be joining us today?"

Hibari cast a scathing glance back towards skittish students, "I need to re-establish proper discipline on school grounds."

Of course he did. That was what happened when you left minions unattended with sub-par supervision for too long. It was only a good thing that both Shī and Kuro had command over minions that were just as devoted to making Tsuna happy as they were, because it really detracted on upsets in the pecking order.

"That's a good idea," Reborn affirmed the Cloud's decision. "It would be best if you started with the faculty. The students are less of a problem."

Hibari eyed him for a few moments, clearly contemplating, then nodded. "I will accept your recommendation, small carnivore."

Aw, how cute. Hibari's vocabulary was expanding. "Well, I have a report to make, tall carnivore," Reborn quipped. "Remember not to do anything that will make Tsuna too disappointed. I won't defend you if you upset him."

Hibari actually grimaced, but didn't verbally back down, "I'll bite those who have disturbed the peace, small carnivore. I don't need you to defend me from the Omnivore."

"If you say so," Reborn decided, though he very much doubted that was true. The very fact that Hibari was actually reasonably polite to people Tsuna liked kind of implied that he was just as dependent on Tsuna's approval as the rest of them, no matter how stubbornly he denied it. "I'll see you at training later, then."

Hibari nodded and spun away, stalking off to seek prey.

"Roof it is, then," Reborn led the other three towards the main entrance, and those students who'd seen the encounter (but not heard, since none of them had been brave enough to get close enough for that) edged out of the way nervously, clearly not sure what to make of the group of children that Hibari had allowed to pass unmolested after what had obviously been an amiable conversation, at least for Hibari.

(As expected, Tsuna met them on the stairs well before they actually got to the third floor, much less the roof, scooping Reborn and I-pin onto his shoulders and tucking Lambo against his side with his left arm as he pulled Fuuta in for a hug with his right, delighted to see the lot of them. The younger children weathered the sparkly cheer best, but Fuuta only looked a little dazzled and Reborn was too awesome to be blindsided, though he did hand over the massive digital file-folder just to make it easier to focus.

Tsuna huffed, pocketed the handheld computer, and got them all up to the roof for lunch.

Reborn, Fuuta, Lambo, and I-pin followed him and the others back into his classroom when lunch ended. The teacher was baffled, but a momentary drop-by and slight nod of approval from Hibari kept any protests from forming. Reborn didn't even have to put on a costume and blast all their brains with Sun-dazzle to confuse them.

... that bit was actually mildly disappointing.)

xxxx

Tsuna flipped through English work that seemed to be far easier than he remembered even if it did take essentially flipping a mental switch, double-checked a few details, and went back to going through the multitudes of information—from economical to military to health and water quality—that Reborn had compiled.

At least in the effective mini-file-room (made with Sora-and-Triad elite-only operating systems and very deliberately without wireless capabilities of any kind, to heavily discourage hacking) of a computer, it was easy to find things.

Reborn had even been kind enough to arrange according to known problems, cross-filing by location, severity, problem type, and list all attempted fixes. Or possibly been _thorough_ enough, because he was kind of a perfectionist.

A frowning teacher came to look at what he was doing, and Tsuna tapped the language options in the corner and switched to English, then opened the listing of areas with health care issues, because that was something he didn't much mind people knowing about. Military and governmental structures, on the other hand, were something best gone over in a more secure location.

Seeing that he had two children sleeping on his lap and a third quietly perched on his shoulder with a slightly older child sitting at the desk next to his and quietly working on his schoolwork—in French at the moment—she didn't immediately say anything, instead glancing at the screen to see what he was doing.

He vaguely noticed her blinking, and then she moved to a more polite distance, "Good initiative, Sawada-kun," she offered, soft but still audible to the whole room, since everyone was being surprisingly quiet. "Your English has definitely been improving, but I hadn't realized you were already at the point of reading advanced material. If you've already finished tomorrow's homework, you can turn it in now and get it out of the way."

He nodded slightly, passing the computer to Reborn for a moment—he felt a flicker of smug approval from the Sun in question, which was pretty much why he'd done it—and pulled out his homework to hand over. Yamato Hanako was one of the better teachers, though she'd often been frustrated with his schoolwork.

Which was understandable, really, _he'd_ been frustrated with his schoolwork; and she had never belittled him for it, but he'd never taken her up on the standing offer to help. The sudden and dramatically obvious upswing in his grades also clearly _wasn't_ due to him applying himself more, because he had to put a lot less work in to get things right. Maybe they should come up with an explanation for that. 'I got a tutor' might work—and was true—but even Reborn's interference hadn't helped his grades much, through no fault of his and not for lack of trying.

(He was pretty sure he was cheating with languages in general, but there wasn't much he could do about that bit. If he could speak _unicorn_ , of course he could manage English, even written.)

Murmurs of confusion and disbelief from most of the class, Gokudera-kun scowling at a few of the comments but not bursting out with protests after a quick glance at Tsuna's sleeping charges, Takeshi shaking his head and Mukuro and Chrome exchanging a glance that Tsuna despaired at, because Chrome was sweet and nice and kind, and also co-head of the Sora's Internal Security because she had a vicious streak about the size of the Pacific, for all that it was usually very well hidden. Mukuro wasn't vicious so much as _sadistic,_ and they truly made for a terrifying pair when they had a problem with the same thing. It didn't help that Ken and Chikusa both looked interested in the two Mists' direction.

Reborn seemed quite pleased about that, and Tsuna accepted the computer back and went straight back to work, quieting Lambo with a Sky-laced pat to the head when he shifted unhappily, the distress reflected in young Lightning Flames easing out with the reassurance.

They were all here, and safe. There were no immediate threats. And Lambo was _his,_ and Tsuna would burn the world to ash before letting the Bovino change that. He didn't know why they'd sent a five-year-old after Reborn, but he was pretty sure he knew why they were continuing to supply weapons and ammunition, and while he was distinctly considering doing _something_ about them, Lambo was young enough that he still loved them, and didn't understand just what it meant that they'd sent him after the World's Greatest Hitman.

The Bovino could wait. Korea, however, had waited long enough.

Tsuna made a number of notes on revisions to the healthcare of the country his crazies had given him, and flicked to the overview of water quality by area. Most was able to be made safe by simple boiling, so could wait for proper addressing of the problem so long as he got people out there to make sure all the residents knew that, and he was definitely going to have to do something on the international front, which for the moment seemed to consist of a lot of large governmental eyes watching warily and not quite sure what to make of the silence and very obvious lack of rioting in the streets despite the fact that they'd managed to keep the king of the new monarchy as-yet uncrowned. And unknown.

He sighed. Being introduced as temporary ruler of Vongola for a month had been bad enough, but they were going to end up having to set up a proper _coronation ceremony_ on an internationally recognized level.

"Sometimes," he told the not-toddler on his shoulder, quietly enough that he doubted anyone else would hear, "I wonder how this is my life."

Reborn patted his head, "I stopped wondering after the akhlut, Tsuna," he informed. "I don't even _want_ to know anymore."

Tsuna snorted, raising his head to glance out the window as something caught his attention. A waver like heat-shimmer and... a black-furred fox. With at least three tails, and possibly as many as five, although they were bushy enough that he couldn't tell exact number from the distance.

"Huh," Takeshi said quietly. "It's that girl from earlier."

Reborn stiffened on Tsuna's shoulder, looking out the window as well, and the fox turned and bounded away, quick and seamlessly graceful. "I saw her earlier, too," he agreed, quiet and tense.

Tsuna blinked, not having seen anyone but the fox. "Wait... by the tree out by the sidewalk just now?"

Reborn nodded shortly.

"... I didn't see a girl," he informed.

Takeshi wasn't the only one to turn to blink at him, and Tsuna switched to Italian, because at least most the class wouldn't understand and his own would, even if Takeshi still had some trouble. "Black fox. At least three tails."

Reborn groaned, a small hand coming up to cover his eyes with a soft smack. "Tsuna. _No more_."

Tsuna shrugged his free shoulder, suddenly feeling lighter. So his life was crazy. But—little moments like these made _everything_ worth it.

(Of course, that caught the teacher's attention for the fact that he was speaking a language that was neither Japanese nor English, and _that_ sparked a random question on how many languages Tsuna spoke, and Tsuna actually had to stop and think about it. Then he decided he didn't know or care, and shrugged with a blase, "Enough."

There was disbelieving griping from a large portion of he class, but the English teacher was visibly intrigued, murmuring something about how hard it was supposed to be to learn multiple languages at the same time. This was going to be annoying later, he just knew it.)

 _xxxx_


	21. Zenko

Look, I'm alive! Also, this is something of a part two for kitsune in general. Again, getting into town is a bit troublesome, but since it's Thanksgiving, I'm with some family friends—in town. So, yay internet, have a present.

 ** _Zenko_**  
 _Almost literally 'good fox' or 'good foxes', depending on the implied number. Myobu are the most prominent example of these, and called such because they are something of 'handmaidens' to Inari, even if some of them are male. However, not all zenko belong to Inari, and some are as much field foxes as good foxes, because they don't have to be sworn to a service. Still, they are good foxes, who have a better understanding of people than most yako and are also inclined to be helpful. Naturally, being helpful explains the view of 'good'._

 _xxxx_

"So, you said that girl earlier was a kitsune?" Takeshi asked as Tsuna herded his taller companions towards the front entrance while carrying the shortest and with Takeshi gamely giving Fuuta a piggyback ride since Tsuna's arms were otherwise occupied and they didn't want to lose him in the crush of students.

"Um, yes?"

"Aren't black kitsune nogitsune?" Mukuro asked, sounding interested even though his Flames reflected a sharper edge of wary concern.

"No, not always," Tsuna frowned, "I could see where you would think that, though. Color doesn't matter much, outside of silver or gold. Normally you only see those colors on really powerful foxes, whose magic has influenced their fur, but otherwise they're really just whatever color they were born as."

Mukuro gave a thoughtful hum, and Chrome tilted her head curiously. "Do you think we'll see it again?"

"Probably," Tsuna admitted wryly. "If we haven't met it properly yet, we probably will. Or at least _I_ probably will."

Reborn huffed, "Keep at least two of us with you at all times," he ordered. "If that one turns out to be unfriendly, I don't want you facing it alone."

"Kitsune aren't usually malicious," Tsuna assured, thinking back through all the stories he'd heard. Mischievous, sure. Sometimes troublemakers. But actively malicious? Only occasionally—those were nogitsune. "And one that's hanging out in a human city can't be _too_ bad, or someone else would have noticed something by now."

Reborn's Flames still prickled with unease, and Tsuna decided to clear that bit up, "Still, it's not a bad idea to be careful. Anyway, let's go check in with the Sora."

Some of the unease flickered out with the first part and the second settled Reborn more, because it wasn't like the _Sora_ would stand back if Tsuna was in trouble. Gokudera-kun had at some point flipped his notebook open, and promptly flipped it back closed, pocketing it.

"Is there anything specific you need, Juudiame?"

Gokudera had settled during their time in Italy. He was calmer, more confident. Tsuna was pretty sure Fon had some influence on that, as well as the fact that they'd gotten the chance to talk about a number of things that had _really_ needed to be talked about. Tsuna smiled at him, politely ignoring the mildly light-dazzled blink. "Just Kuro-san's views on Korea situation, and possibly Shī's if he's not in the middle of something. Sorry, but you'll definitely have to help them with the new security issues—and it's going to be a _nightmare_ planning the coronation."

Reborn made a quiet, despairing sort of sound in his throat, and Tsuna wanted to reach up and pat his shoulder, but his arms were full of Lambo and I-pin, who both seemed content to bathe in his Flames and doze for the moment.

Gokudera made a face, and Takeshi gave a strained laugh, "Haha, wasn't the Vongola introduction bad enough?"

Tsuna considered. "To be fair, that didn't turn out too badly." Apart from the collapsed _load-bearing pillar_ when Reborn and Fon's disapproval of the rather poor attempt at assassination had intersected and Reborn's Chaos (Skull was right, Reborn wasn't a normal Sun any more than Xanxus was a normal Sky) had mingled with Fon's Storm and gotten significantly more destructive than usual. And they _knew_ their Flames did that when they weren't careful, too (thus the instatement of the 'you break it, you pay for it' Rule), so they had absolutely no excuse for bringing a third of the ceiling down. Even Xanxus and the other Varia had only caused a few collective scorch-marks!

Takeshi wasn't the only one conceding the point.

"Still, Tsuna," Reborn huffed, "There will be a lot more variables."

That was unfortunately true. "Well, it won't be right away, although we should make it soon. No one's really complained yet, but I think the UN would be less twitchy if we got it handled. Mafia fights are bad enough; I don't want an actual inter-country _war_ breaking out."

A series sharp tings announced the tóngshī cub an instant before he pelted around the corner, tripping over a loose bit of concrete with a ringing squall before scrambling to hide behind Tsuna's ankles.

Moeru winged in, pulled up just short of colliding with the lot of them and trilled in thwarted annoyance.

Tsuna felt living metal shift behind his feet, and the cub chuffed a half-complaining apology.

Tsuna snickered.

Moeru trilled again, a little grudging, and flipped around to land on Gokudera's shoulder, deigning not to add to Tsuna's passenger list.

"What was that about?" Fuuta asked, wiggling to be let down from Takeshi's back as Chrome stooped down to pick up the cub, making a startled sound at his weight. Which—living metal. He was heavier than he looked, though not as heavy as solid bronze should be.

"He chewed on Moeru's favorite perch." Which was made of Lightning-Flame treated ironwood, not metal, although it was nearly as hard.

Two much larger tóngshī loped up, paws ringing dully against concrete, and Tsuna waved.

The female slowed, rumbling in exasperation, and the male chuffed a greeting before nodding to Chrome.

"Ano..." she looked at Tsuna.

"He's just greeting us," Tsuna assured. "He appreciates that the cub has no paws on the ground with which to take off and cause more trouble."

Said cub whimpered, rubbing his nose with one of said paws, and Tsuna winced in sympathy. "If the ironwood helps, we should get him some chew-sticks. Poor little guy—it sounds like he's teething."

"You know, Tsuna," Reborn said, almost idly, "there was a time in my life when this would have seemed strange to me."

Tsuna grinned, "Don't worry, Reborn. Namimori's just one of those places."

Reborn made a show of looking around at the mostly-empty street, only a grandmother none of them knew across the way working on her garden and overall ignoring the metal lions and multi-colored bird with a turtle-shell not ten meters from her front gate.

He made a face like he wasn't sure whether to concede the point or wash his hands of the lot of them.

(The khe-ti's head poking up out of Moeru's feathers a moment later didn't help the situation, and Tsuna snickered at the frustrated sort of strangling motions Reborn made at no one in particular before subsiding as Tsuna took full advantage of his Flame type and swamped them all in happy thoughts. He'd _missed_ the tóngshī, and the escort to the Sora base felt like coming home.

The welcome when they got there including Akhlut-san and the dragon just made everything better. The caladrius making a beeline for his favorite perch on an exasperated Reborn's shoulder as Leon obligingly shifted to make room was really just icing on the proverbial cake.)

 _xxxx_

As usual, Tsuna was extremely right, Ryohei reflected as he blinked at the animal roughly the size of a large wolf—normal large wolf, that was, not Akhlut-san's extreme largeness—that had looked like a smiling teenage girl until Tsuna had hung up his end of the phone line. Boxing Club was over for the day, Kyoko off with her extremely extreme friend Hana, and Ryohei had intended to go to the Sora base to extremely check up on the recruits, who had probably at least somewhat slacked off in his absence, if only because they lacked a proper trainer.

(Ryohei wasn't the only trainer, and most of the recruits got their pick of fighting styles, but Tsuna insisted that even the technicians and medics get some basic combat instruction, because he didn't want _any_ of his people to be helpless. They at least had to know how to get away or hold out for backup. But Ryohei was in charge overall, and the recruits who decided to go into security or fieldwork had to meet his own extreme standards for training, at least the lower end of them.)

And the extremely large black fox was already bounding away, an indeterminate number of extremely fluffy black tails waving behind it.

... Ryohei wasn't extremely sure what was going on, but filed it under 'Tsuna Things' and went back to jogging towards the base to check up on his recruits, only some of which were extremely extreme and the rest of which just had to be extremely able to get away. Ryohei could only _teach_ boxing, or at least how to throw a punch without extremely breaking a hand or dislocating a thumb or something, but he was definitely extremely able to tell if someone was putting their extreme all into training.

... he extremely hoped they hadn't slacked off _too_ much while they'd all been in Italy. Things would go so much more smoothly if he didn't need to extremely push them back into shape. Maybe they could find another extreme trainer like Lal Mirch to help out.

He would extremely ask Tsuna about it!

 _xxxx_

Skull bounced through familiar streets cheerfully, waving back when a girl he didn't know waved at him, and then stopped at a pained sound from off to the other side.

He turned down the next street, frowning, and then scowled outright when he saw three older teens shoving a middle-school-aged kid with red hair around, calling him _haafu_ and geek and similar things.

Now, Skull wasn't Hibari. Heck, as Clouds went, Skull was pretty much the most laid back in existence. Even Lal Mirch was way more violent than he was, and she was a primary Rain with a secondary Mist and _tertiary_ Cloud. (She had also almost entirely defaulted to the tertiary before Tsuna had fixed her Flames, because she might have stronger Mist Flames than Cloud Flames, but the Mist mentality didn't come easily to her.)

But Skull didn't _like_ bullies. He liked people who picked on people for things they couldn't control even less than most bullies, and he could tell the hair was natural. (Brave kid.) "Hey!"

The three older teens startled and spun, because Skull sounded like his former-sized self the same as most of the Arcobaleno did. (He actually felt kind of bad for Reborn, sometimes, for getting the baby-voice. He hadn't had nearly as bad of side effects as Lal had, but a baby voice and a minor speech impediment were still a pretty big blow to the pride, as if being _shrunk_ wasn't bad enough.)

"Oh," one of them relaxed, grinning, "It's just a brat. Go home to your mommy, brat."

Skull considered the fact that Tsuna had pretty much declared himself group mom and decided that could be taken as something approaching an insult. He narrowed his eyes, "Just because you're kids, I'll give you a chance to leave peacefully. Let the boy go, and walk away."

Another scoffed, walking towards him purposefully, "And what're you going to do about it, baby? _Make us?_ "

Skull waited until the teen went to grab him, then hopped up over his head and kicked him in the back, careful not to cause serious injury. That one faceplanted in the concrete, and Skull pulled out his phone. "Tsuna? Hey, yeah, I'm on the corner of Fifth near the base," he slid around a second attempt at a grab and knocked that one out with a smack to his lower spine and a quick pulse of neutral Cloud, "Three teens bullying a middle-schooler. He doesn't seem badly injured, but—whoa-" he skipped back out of range as the second got back up and the first growled, ready to swing his makeshift club of a broken tree branch again, "-yeah, they didn't take 'leave quietly' too well. So I'm going to end up having to knock them all out, and you might want to send a medical team."

Tsuna made a very unhappy sound and barked an order on the other end of the line, before adding _"I'll be right there,"_ to Skull and hanging up.

Skull shrugged, knocked out the two still-concious older teens in quick succession, and went to check over the redhead who was slowly sinking down the wall, one hand curled protectively across his stomach and the other rubbing at his head, fingers coming away from his hairline smudged red and a slow trickle of blood making its way down his temple.

Skull felt his eyes widen and he scrambled over to the kid, "Hey, are you okay?"

Two minutes later Tsuna showed up with an ambulance and Reborn, and immediately set most of the medics to dealing with the unconscious teens and pulling the most competent—a healer-Sun Skull thought was called Yoshi—and bringing him to Skull's rescue-ee. Once everyone was confirmed stable—and the redhead was the worst injured—Tsuna herded the lot of them into the ambulance and they quietly drove back to base. The three older teens got consigned to the holding cells until they woke up for Tsuna to _talk_ to, and the redhead was placed in the infirmary, seeming a little shell-shocked even outside his head injury.

And that was how they met Irie Soichi.

(Tsuna was the only one to notice thoughtful eyes watching, and he had more important things to worry about than yet another supernatural evaluation.)

 _xxxx_

Three hours later, Tsuna was seriously considering following Reborn's earlier reaction of hand-over-eyes and groaning, because the kitsune he'd seen was sitting next to the fence near Kuro-san's house, heat-shimmer waver settling in what he could vaguely tell was a humanoid silhouette against the bamboo slats.

Walking his Namimori Base boss home to pick up any outstanding details hadn't exactly been unheard of, and Reborn had been willing to let him out of sight because he had an escort. Specifically, a Rain and a Mist that had been doing well in their training, along with Mukuro's familiar skulking and Hibari's sharp-eyed semi-distant prowl.

Kuro-san paused, blinking at the heat-shimmer above and to the left of the fox's actual head. "Ano..." he glanced at Tsuna, clearly saw the exasperation, and apparently decided that the girl—presuming he saw a girl like the others had—was a non-threat who, while not entirely welcome, at least wasn't _unwelcome._ "Hello, Oujou-san...?"

Tsuna sighed and stepped past the man, who immediately fell silent, "Kitsune-san, not to be rude, but why have you been watching my people?"

One black tail flicked out from the indistinct mass of the rest as she stood, the heat-shimmer dissipating. Her head tilted and then she stretched out her forelimbs in a canine bow, her tails fanning out to show a grand total of five, and her voice came across in a cool mental touch as she didn't even try to speak aloud, _You see through even my illusions. I am impressed, lordling. Your people love and trust you; they are honorable, and they are strong. You shine brighter than any star. I am_ —the name came not as words but impressions, a deep pool on a still new-moon's night, glinting with pinprick lights of reflected stars with the scent of seagrass and pine and a cool saltwater breeze from the west. _As long as you will it, I am in your service._

Tsuna blinked.

"Thank you?" he asked, not quite sure what to make of the sudden allegiance.

The fox straightened before sitting and waiting with tails primly arranged around her.

"Um... can you meet me at the Shrine this evening? I still have a lot to do right now."

He got a quick, elegant nod for that, and the fox stood and turned in a single motion, bounding off towards the edge of town as the heat-shimmer-like ripple returned.

"Juudiame?" Kuro-san asked weakly.

"... pretend that didn't happen for now," Tsuna sighed, exasperated. "We have other things to worry about for the moment."

"What _did_ happen?" the escort Rain—Ling, who was on something of an exchange program from the Triads—asked, bewildered.

"Another Myth joined the ranks," Tsuna informed, guessing that he'd been the only one the fox had spoken to. "Anyway, Kuro-san, was there anything else?"

"Ah, yes, the repair teams sent out to the more remote areas of South Korea adversely effected by the, uh, _restructuring_ have reported that the problems with the water are mostly cracks in the underground piping. We're not sure what caused them, but we're spreading the word to boil drinking water. We're having to prioritize by severity of damage and population density for the work."

Tsuna frowned. While it was good that they'd tracked down the problem, and a relief that the issues with quality involved microbes killable by boiling rather than poisons or heavy metals, repairing the water piping for the better part of a country was going to be a pain. And they'd have to see about tracking down what exactly had _caused_ the damage, because the tech used to isolate communications really shouldn't have cracked pipes.

 _Argh._

"Okay, thanks for the update," Tsuna sighed. "I need to get back to base—come on, Ling, Jiro."

His _life,_ why?

 _xxxx_


	22. Outside Looking In

So, again, not dead. This chapter fought me, mostly because power has been a thing of imagination and memory, but I have notebooks and pencils, a wood stove, and a whole lot of lamp-oil. And oil lamps to go with them. ANYWAY. It's a thing. Generator's been down and no one to come and fix it, and I hardly know what to do with the thing. So, we make do. Myself and my bunny rabbit. Who is no help whatsoever.

So, this is what I have time to type up today while hanging out in town, and I'm sorry but the next chapter proper may be a while. It is written, so it'll end up posted eventually, but written and typed are two different things these days. That said, this is something of an interlude.

Also, if anyone spots mistakes I've missed, feel free to point them out. I'll address what I can, when I can.

 ** _Outside Looking In_**  
 _(Mostly)_

 _Five Weeks Before, Undisclosed American Military Base:_

"All right, boys," Colonel Mavers stated, looking at his disoriented, forcibly returned group that _used_ to be in South Korea. "As you all have probably figured out - South Korea is under new management. What you may not have heard yet is that North Korea is also under new management - and as far as anyone can tell, it's the same management."

There was some uncomfortable shifting, but the boys were disciplined enough not to say anything.

"Now, them being under new management is not itself a problem," Mavers continued. "The problem is that we don't know who's managing. We don't know where they came from, how they shut down all communications with the _borders_ as outer limits, or what they want. Aside, apparently, for a united Korea."

Some more shifting. Every last one of them had been debriefed upon winding up back in America _en masse_ , no idea what had happened or how they'd been transported. Which was bad, because the guys inside couldn't tell, either, they'd just been dropped just outside Washington in a proverbial heap with a very large, apparently hand-written note that all possessions, weapons, and technology from the base would be cleaned and returned within two weeks.

It had only been two days, but no one was counting on that note having been true, even if all the men were unharmed.

"Korea - which is now claiming to be one country again - has declared its borders closed, with a few exceptions that just don't make sense," Mavers saw hand or three rise, people finally confused enough to ask questions and uncertain enough to treat it like school. Cute.

"If you're asking what those exceptions are, I'm getting to it. Non-nationals have been permitted to leave unmolested or even continue their tours as though nothing has happened. Nationals have been allowed to return. And communications of all kinds are freely permitted both in and out of the country, which leaves us with several points of contact that have been providing a lot of information, almost none of it useful."

Hands went back down.

"All of you will be reassigned," Mavers told them. "You've each been given one week of light duty around here, under medical observation - that part you should already know. We don't know how you ended up back in the States, and we intend to make sure it's not going to have any unexpected consequences. After this week, barring medical complications, you'll have three weeks' leave. Take the time to see your loved ones. Visit home. After that, your new assignments will be handed out. If any of you hear anything on the Korea situation, report it immediately."

He got a chorused "Yes, sir!" and smiled.

Yes, the situation was bizarre and could still turn very ugly, but all their people had come home safe. No injuries, no new mental trauma. As forceful evictions from established bases went, this one was positively _benign._

"Dismissed!"

 _Four Weeks Before, CIA Agent's Private Home:_

"Well, it could be worse," James Rivers of the CIA informed his rather more military ally.

Colonel Mavers glowered at him, "I don't know whether to be worried or grateful that whoever's in there is keeping their promises. Everything but the damn buildings returned, down to the last bullet on file, even security footage... except that of during the actual attack. And we all know there _wasn't_ any of that, because the guys on security have already confirmed that every camera and mike cut out; only things that worked during their little invasion were human senses and the invaders' equipment."

"I was half expecting to find the buildings behind the White House or something," James admitted. "How are they even _doing_ this?"

"Who even are they?" Mavers retorted.

James shrugged, "All we're getting is that no one knows, and for the most part the nationals don't seem to care. There's no major violence and their lives haven't been disrupted - no sudden taxes levied, no soldiers in the streets. A few reports of an illness starting in on the populace, but that could be unrelated, or incidental. Bringing in people from the outside may well come with accidental disease spread, after all."

"And we won't know if it's intentional for a while," Mavers grimaced. "Still no travel, and still open communication?"

"No change there. Although I did get a report from one of my men - a North Korean woman went to one of the government buildings, pleading to be allowed to leave. Said her mother was dying, off in Japan. Her husband ran in to pull her away, probably fearing retribution from a bunch of weapons-bearing people that everyone knows next to nothing about, and the two were escorted into the building under armed guard. Ten minutes later, they're running home to pack. Another hour after that, and they walk into the government building and walk _out_ of a building in Tokyo with a translator-guide who takes them to the hospital where the woman's mother is. We don't know how it happened. They jumped two people from Korea to Japan with no witnesses on methodology, in less than _ten minutes."_

"Uh," Mavers managed, staring. "Are you having me on?"

"No," James grimaced. "On the one hand, whoever's in charge isn't suppressing the citizens, but that's been obvious since day three. On the other, they're seriously screwing with us. Showing us they can transport people across countries on a whim - this isn't something that took a lot of preparation, which means that our guys showing up in our own damn backyard? Didn't require anything they consider _special._ We checked: the woman's mother was in the hospital for a sudden decline, but has been battling cancer for years. This isn't something that could be _faked._ "

"That we know of," Mavers pointed out.

Which was fair. These people could hop countries with no one the wiser. Who knew what they could do medically? "Fine, it doesn't _look_ faked. Nothing suspicious about it, aside from the method of getting the daughter and her husband in. And the fact that they were let out of a building in _Japan_ with a local providing translation and guiding services. Which means they have a base in Japan, which - could be a big problem."

"What does the Japanese government have to say?"

"They're the ones who reported the sudden appearance of two Koreans at a hospital desk, looking to visit, with no sign of having crossed any borders. They're nervous."

"Which means they probably don't know what's going on, either."

"And that they might be next in line for a sudden, peacefully hostile takeover."

Mavers grimaced. _"Wonderful."_

James managed a completely mirthless grin, "Isn't it just?"

 _Three Weeks Before, undisclosed INTERPOL Base:_

"Well, lads, we've got confirmation on a three things out of Korea. Or one thing. Or seven, if you're feeling optimistic," Linden Gardener informed.

"Oh?" one of said 'lads' looked up, Arthur clearly curious about the sudden announcement.

"That's right," a grin, less mirthful than a gesture of helpless frustration.

"I'll bite," the American of the group, a Dennis Smith, piped in. "What've we got?"

"Our boys still in country say the locals say the people running the show are Chinese. Or Japanese. Some even claim Spanish or Italian. They also say there are three people at the top, and I don't know about you, but I think that says multinational."

"Chinese _and_ Japanese working together to take over Korea would be strange enough, but how do Spaniards or Italians factor in?"

"Organized crime?" came the offhand suggestion. "I don't know. If we managed to get more than rumors and hearsay..."

"It's very clear that whoever these guys are, they know exactly who we have. They also know every CIA, MI-6, or bloody _ICR_ agent in their borders. And they _have_ made Korea theirs, make no mistake about that. We get what they _let_ us get."

"Yeah, what's with that? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to just deport, imprison, or kill anyone they don't want around? They're letting them communicate but also somehow limiting their ability to get information from anything but second or third-hand accounts from local civilians - or worse, _rumors_ \- but it's still information that seems to be matching up from all of them."

"Easier, yes," Linden agreed. "Which means they want us to find out what the people think of them and why, without actually letting us find out what they're _after."_

"And the people are starting to trust them," Arthur said slowly, in a tone of realization. "They haven't been hurting civilians. They haven't been letting anyone _else_ hurt civilians. When people started getting sick, they tracked down the cause, treated the ill, and started to repair the problem while educating the locals on how to keep themselves healthy. They've reunited the Koreas, and now they're working on generating goodwill."

"And they've got more of it in three weeks than the Americans managed in South Korea in years - no offense, Smith. But America was a presence, not a ruling entity."

"... Okay, so they're being nice. Responsible. Getting the people to like them. _Why?_ "

"The best option is that they intend to rule fairly. That they wanted something the country had, took over to get it, and are at least intending to be responsible with their new property - some people are like that. Get something, take good care of it."

"Yeah, but most of those don't take over _countries."_

"Which leaves other, less friendly, options. They want people grateful, or unsuspecting. Considering the diseases and subsequent treatments, possibly experimenting with some kind of biological weapon, and wanting an available populace to test on."

"Agh," Arthur made a face, "Oh, that's a _bad_ thought."

"Very. But the fact that they're _treating_ it implies it's at least containable, even if they are."

"Not planning on releasing something they can't control?"

"I hope they're not planning on releasing something _at all_ , but even a threat would have that country solidly theirs. We can't afford bio-weapons being turned loose, _especially_ not if they've somehow begun immunizing what's now their own people, because that means they won't have to worry about it in their own backyard."

"Which... kind of implies they care?"

"Or they're practical. You can't rule people without people to rule."

"I'm going to hope for the 'care about human life' option, and that whatever they're up to, it's limited to location."

Linden grimaced acknowledgement. "Here, here. Hope for the best - plan for the worst. What do we do if they _are_ looking at biological weapons?"

 _Two Weeks Before, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Break Room:_

"What I _still_ don't get is how the managed to get two people from Korea to that office building downtown in less than ten minutes with _no one the wiser_ ," came from one of the rookies just as Hakuro-keibu walked into the break room.

Which instantly made it clear what the current conversation was about, if nothing else.

"They had all their papers," that one was from Division Two - theft, mostly. "It's not like we can do anything. The lady and her husband weren't doing anything _wrong."_

"It's not the lady and her husband that worry me," one of Hakuro's own pointed out, tundra-dry. "It's their current government, whoever or _what_ ever it may be, and how they instated themselves without anyone having any forewarning whatsoever. Unless it was an impulsive attack with no prior planning - which is impossible considering the outcome - whoever's running the show is _damn_ good. And they have people _in our country_."

"They have a lot of people in our country," Hakuro agreed. "And all of them seem to be Yakuza. Or - what were Yakuza. That group that's been running all the Yakuza out of business, moving in and taking over?"

"The cult?"

Hakuro didn't grace that with an answer, "'Sora', they call themselves. It's been confirmed that the office building trading long-distance, high-speed visitors belongs to them."

"Yeah, did we ever figure out who's running _that_ show?"

"... After a fashion," Hakuro said grudgingly. One of their usual drug boys managed to get an in with the Sora. He'd given three reports and then gone native, as it were - and he'd lasted the longest of any of the police agents that managed to get in. The ones in Namimori had just turned around and quit their jobs, and the one in Osaka had given one report. Kyoto's ranked second at two. "He might not be running it, but they've apparently decided some fifteen-year-old in Namimori is a god incarnate. We slapped some surveillance on the kid for a while, but aside from abysmal school grades, mild clumsiness such as one would expect from a growing teen, and a propensity to be trailed by small children that he is _ferociously_ protective of - he seems like a normal kid. His _father,_ on the other hand, lives in Italy and clearly has ties to the Italian Mafia. Kid got dragged off to Italy a few weeks back, so we've lost track of him, but he's a genuinely sweet kid. I can't imagine he'd approve, and his mother is... frankly, inept. She shouldn't have been left alone with the kid."

"So... whatever's going on, the kid's being used as a smokescreen?"

"Likely. I'm betting the father's mixed up in there somewhere, but the kid and the wife have nothing to do with it."

"Is she hurting the kid?" one of the so-far silent skulkers asked, straightening in his corner.

"No. She's just... not all _there._ It's fine now that he's old enough to mostly take care of himself, and she definitely loves the kid, she's just incapable. With the four other children in the house, now - the kid is really the one taking care of them. He's even managed to get the neighborhood women helping out while he's gone. She's neglectful, and it's completely unintentional - background check indicates a head injury years back, and she apparently didn't ever fully recover."

"So, we've got a brain-damaged mom, a fifteen-year-old being set up to take the fall for something that his only fault in was being _born,_ and a man who's too far away for us to do anything about."

"That about sums it up. On the up-side, the Sora fanatics will probably do their damndest to see the kid and anyone he cares about safe and happy, because they actually _believe_ their whole cult-worship thing, and seem to be content to mostly watch from Tokyo in some kind of weird and incomprehensible awe."

"So, a smokescreen that the father wants in one piece."

"Seems like. Either way, aside from keeping an eye on the situation, there's not much we can do at the moment."

"Do we get to know names, or is that classified?"

"Sawada, Nana and Tsunayoshi. Father's Sawada Iemitsu, and came to Japan less than a day after the kid got shipped to Italy on a private charter, spent a few hours in Namimori, and then went back to Italy. I'm not even entirely sure the kid knows he _has_ a father, as that was the first time the guy has been in Japan in eight years and no one around town seems to have heard anything."

A grimace, "Damn. Poor kid. We got anyone keeping an eye out for trouble?"

"The Namimori PD know to keep an eye on the situation, and it seems contained for the moment. We're keeping an eye out for him returning to the country, but until then..."

"Right. Waiting game. I _hate_ stakeouts."

"This isn't a stakeout, moron," someone muttered.

"Might as well be! All we can do is wait for something to happen!"

"Being on the side of the law means no pre-emptive attacks, and we all know it. Settle in, boys, we're in this for the long haul - and we still don't know if the father's in charge, or only has a convenient kid far enough away from the boss' home base."

"Ugh," was the general sentiment in response. Still all they could do for the moment was keep an eye on the situation and hope for the best.

 _One Week Before, Namimori Sora Base:_

"Juudaime's really busy these days, and Reborn-san doesn't think it's anything to worry him about so long as it stays under control," Kuro explained, handing over the compilation of reports to Gokudera.

Gokudera hummed in agreement, shuffling through the files in case of anything troubling. Aside from the fact that the 'spies' that the police sent had easily been swayed to Juudaime's side and therefore made it easy to control the flow of information to their former masters, there was information on all current police theories involving the Sora, Juudaime, and Korea.

... he had to admit, if only to himself, that he felt a bit of vindictive pleasure that the police were pinning some kind of nebulous blame on that idiot Iemitsu. Even if they were _wrong,_ and Juudaime was _amazing_ and definitely not some helpless, unknowing victim.

"It looks handled," he decided after another few minutes. "So long as you keep Reborn updated, it should be fine." Juudaime had more than enough to worry about without adding police watchers, especially since they were easily able to convert who they found. Of course, the Myths helped. It was hard to argue Juudaime's amazingness when everything from unicorns to dragons were willing to follow him. "What about international?"

Kuro made a face, "That's more complicated, but Juudaime already has all those files. We're doing our best to keep from making the other countries nervous, but the invasion wasn't exactly my best idea."

Gokudera snorted. That was an understatement, but he could hardly fault Kuro for doing what he would have, if he'd been the one with incomplete information on Juudaime's unconsciousness and the idea that a cure might be somewhere in the Koreas. And taking over them both entirely had been reasonable damage control, as having either Korea or even America declare war on them would have been a problem of truly massive proportions, because they didn't - or _hadn't_ \- had a country, then. It would have probably been Japan that ended up caught in the crossfire, and Juudaime would have been _very_ upset.

Juudaime annoyed and even frustrated was better than Juudiame upset. _Everyone_ agreed on that.

"Well, keep watching the police. I think we're getting close to setting a date for the coronation, and we don't need anything getting in the way. Is there anything new I need to take to Chrome and the Pineapple?"

Kuro shook his head, "We haven't had any real internal security issues in a while. Everyone respects Juudaime too much to cause problems."

That was a satisfying thought. Even the Vongola Nono had to deal with internal problems, at least according to Mafia gossip. Although Juudaime had probably put a stop to that, too.

Good enough, for the moment. Once they got the coronation date set, they could really start sorting out the international front, too.

 _xxxx_


	23. Samjoku

_AN: I feel like this both needs and deserves addressing: I have received a review on the tensions between the respective Koreas and Japan, in all three directions, making Tsuna's occupation and peacefully hostile takeover (a) unrealistic and (b) insulting and/or cruel. My knowledge of world history is fairly sparse, true, but I am aware of past tensions lingering to present day - mainly because my brother went to a boarding school where he had three roommates that were either terribly thought-out or the most cunning ploy to ensure a lack of scholastic infighting where one was Chinese, one was Japanese, and one was from South Korea. They apparently made tape-lines down the room that lasted the vast majority of their year-round four-year tenure there, but ended up becoming fast friends somewhere around their third year. I never heard the story of how or why, though, and the curiosity yet burns._

 _Now, the first thing to note is that the Koreas in this story are (a) in the KHR universe, which is mostly the canon version of a crack-fic anyway and (b) do not yet know who exactly as taken them over. I am not a major student of world history, but I am something of a student of human nature: humans are, on the whole, very predictable in groups. If a situation does not largely affect their lives or only causes positive changes, regardless of who has instigated those changes, people tend to either not care or leave well enough alone. In this case, the people of the forcibly united Korea are only aware of certain things: they were invaded with no warning by armed forces that were a mix of races, predominately Chinese and Japanese with a smattering of Europeans - and this invasion ended with minimal loss of life and limb, the eviction of South Korea's American allies, a forceful country-merging, and a temporary ruling by an Italian while their many and varied criminal groups went either dormant or benevolent. This is not 'Japan ruling Korea' or 'a Japanese person ruling Korea'. This is 'Tsuna being put in charge of Korea because his minions are idiots and it would have caused a war or three otherwise'. Except that Korea's legal side doesn't actually know who Tsuna is yet. The people are equal parts worried and content - a bunch of unknowns are occupying them, but they haven't caused any harm as long as they've been left unchallenged. Ergo, no one wants to be the one to break what may be a fragile status-quo where no one's getting hurt and turn it into something more like a bloodbath. No warning successful invasions are SCARY. Even scarier when no one gets hurt or killed, because that should take overwhelming force - it's a whole lot easier to kill someone than subdue them, as a general rule, especially military-trained someones._

 _Now, my actual reasons for picking Korea as the first place to have Tsuna rule has more to do with location and compatible mythology than anything else. Really. It's geograpically fairly close to both China and Japan, where Tsuna's main forces are. Its mythology shares a lot of aspects with both Japan's and China's - which are likewise very similar to each other. And it has known organized crime with their own local names. Really, my reasoning was pretty straightforward and didn't at all take into account past injury to or by any of the related parties._

 _To be fair, though, Japan is surprisingly benign towards America, despite us doing them a greater wrong than Japan's wrongs to Korea - we literally wiped out two major civilian population centers and rendered them effectively permanently uninhabitable. Then we forced a disarmament that denies them a standing military, after they had a long history of being a militant culture. Despite that, America has been at least mostly forgiven and is considered to be something of an ally to Japan. If that can happen, the force-merged Korea in my Myths 'verse can handle a far more benevolent sort of takeover by someone who's primary loyalty doesn't seem to be Japan at all, especially since they don't even know it yet. Seriously, Tsuna is a crime lord, whether or not he wanted or intended to be. Crime lords generally aren't considered patriots. Neither are children, for that matter - and he's both._

 ** _This was not in any way intended to be insulting to, commenting on, or otherwise reflecting the real world beyond geographic local, nomenclature, and mythos - the last of which could be argued as not real-world to begin with._**

 _ **Samjoku**_

 _Either a three-legged or three eyed dog from Korean Mythology, said to be able to discern illusions and have a strong distrust of the Korean equivalent of a Kitsune. Whether that extends to non-Korean foxes was is not specified, but a many-tailed fox is a many-tailed fox, and they may just not trust foxes in general._

 _xxxx_

The kitsune made for a wonderful messenger around the base, Chrome thought, the silky-dark creature seeming entertained with the people therein and more than willing to carry notes to and fro. She refused to actually _speak_ with anyone but Tsuna-sama, but for the most part nothing more than notes were needed.

Everyone in the Sora had begun taking mythological creatures in stride with how often they had one or more of Tsuna's growing menagerie wandering about, which probably added to the kitsune's general amusement. It certainly added to Chrome's, and the fox would occasionally drop by her and Mukuro-nii's* office just to lounge in the corner and nap.

Of course, Tsuna-sama still wasn't quite sure how to translate her name into something actually able to be conveyed in a word or even a short phrase, but she didn't seem offended by the 'Kitsune-san' used by most of the Sora and the rotating Triads' shifts, so Chrome supposed that was fine. Akhlut-san refused to even consider another name, after all, and the tóngshī still huffed at the occasional suggestion in the drop-box.

Still, kitsune were supposed to be illusionists and if the legends were true, a five-tailed kitsune had to be to least five hundred years old. With the worst of the security issues handled and her own services no longer constantly needed in controlling the Korean underground - now being dragged up into the Korean overground, because Tsuna-sama wouldn't stand for any of his causing trouble for any others of his, and the new Korea was his all over - she had a question for her periodic visitor.

Chrome wasn't as strong as Mukuro. She couldn't make things solid, not the way he could. She wasn't as good with a weapon, either. But for Tsuna-sama, for Mukuro-nii - she would _not_ be weak. If physical force was beyond her, then she would trick, confuse, conceal. She would be the enshrouding Mist, that hid those dear to her safely away from their enemies sight and stripped back the concealments that their enemies tried to spin.

Mukuro might be the sword of their team but she would be the shield.

"Kitsune-san? Would you be willing to help me improve my illusions?"

Dark brown eyes peered at her from midnight fur, and the kitsune raised her head to regard Chrome for a long, thoughtful moment before she blinked slowly, dipping her head once and sitting up, flicking a tail to the side in a shimmer of foxfire that drifted close for Chrome to examine.

Chrome smiled and got to work.

 _xxxx_

Tsuna loved his people. He loved them very much... and at times like this, he wondered _why._

"You didn't," he sighed, covering his face with one hand for a moment - his only concession to the resigned exasperation weighing down on him. Because of _course_ they did.

"That's right, Tsuna!" Reborn chirped, clearly reverting to his cheerful-tutor-from-hell mentality. (Tsuna had known Reborn would find _some_ way to get back at him for landing him regency in Korea, but he felt like this was over the top, and probably mostly Kuro's fault.) "You no longer have a cult. It's an internationally recognized religion!"

"In how many countries?" he had to ask. He didn't _want_ to know, but he probably needed to.

"Four!"

Tsuna covered his face with both hands at that. "Italy, too?"

"Actually, no," Reborn settled slightly, but his grin was more than a little vindictive. "America. They're the easiest to get religions pushed through. They actually have an official religion for a god they call 'The Flying Spaghetti Monster' that was made up by a bunch of students to see if they could."

"What did you _do?_ " Tsuna didn't quite whine. The cult had been bad enough!

"Some of the Sora have family in America. It wasn't hard to get a petition signed."

"But you got it pushed through here?" Tsuna sighed.

"Shrines are being erected in your honor in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto!"

"Not Namimori." It wasn't a question.

"You live in Namimori," Reborn dismissed. "All worship can be done in person."

He didn't want to know. (He already knew. And as over-the-top as Reborn was being about it, he was _nervous._ Which meant he probably thought Tsuna would be mad, and had done his best to mitigate the damage, but had been bowled over by the fervor of Tsuna's more enthusiastic minions. Reborn could compete with a lot of things, but religious zealots wasn't necessarily one of them.)

He sighed, "Kuro went behind your back and instated it as the official religion of Korea, didn't he?"

Reborn's vicious cheer dimmed to something between amusement and chagrin, "You've been declared something like a god-king, and no one but the Mafia-types even knows who you are yet."

"And since they're currently in the process of being fully subverted..." Tsuna trailed off.

"The crime rate's dropped to almost nothing," Reborn winced, then corrected himself, "Which isn't bad, but everyone's _noticed._ So the civilians are starting to wonder who has the organized groups turning _nice,_ and the Geondal are occupied bringing the street gangs into their folds and keeping from doing anything that has the Sora cracking heads. You really need to meet with the leaders and sort them out properly, because continuing to send representatives will soon be taken as insulting."

"If Moeru provides transport, I can start getting that taken care of this week," Tsuna agreed. "I don't want to miss any more school than I'll already have to, and I still want to spend time with Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta. I'll get Kuro to schedule a meeting."

Reborn huffed, but relaxed entirely at the same time. "You really have learned a lot, Tsuna," he smiled - a _real_ smile - and Tsuna scooped him up for cuddles, making sure to swamp him in happy thoughts just so he wouldn't think to protest. Or bonk Tsuna's head; he still did that, too, if nowhere near as hard as he used to.

Reborn gave in with good grace, tolerating being used as a teddy bear until Tsuna let up on the Flames. Then he swatted the side of Tsuna's head (gently) and hopped back to the floor. "I still have to coordinate with the Vindice," he informed. "Stay out of trouble, Tsuna."

"Say 'hi' to Bermuda and Jager for me!"

Reborn growled something that sounded like commentary on Tsuna's affection for the Vindice, which Reborn seemed to view as useful allies and creepy as all getout. Which was fair, they _were_ undead. But they were perfectly polite!

And Tsuna still needed to sit down and talk with Bermuda about why he looked like an Arcobaleno. With everything else that had been happening, he kept forgetting on those few times he _did_ see the leader of the Vindice, and he really should find out. He had a feeling it was somehow important.

"Argh," he informed the doorway as Reborn sauntered out (which was actually kind of impressive considering the toddler body) and reached for the phone to call Kuro.

It was time to set up a few meetings in Korea.

 _xxxx_

Because this was apparently how Tsuna's life worked, now, he hadn't been in Korea for more than twenty minutes before a scraggly, three-legged mutt tackled him to the ground before spinning away on its one fore-paw and snarling at the presumably disguised kitsune.

There were roughly ten different weapons pointed at the dog in question before Tsuna even managed to sit up, unharmed and a bit dusty. He considered the scene before him for a moment and the kitsune sat, clearly entertained.

The dog barked twice, a leg shimmering into being along with a third eye on its forehead, and all three eyes blinked several times before the dog tilted its head in obvious confusion, then barked a question - apparently a 'he'.

Tsuna _sighed._

Reborn huffed and hopped back onto Tsuna's shoulder, Leon turned back into a lizard and relocated to Reborn's hat, Gokudera blinked twice and exchanged dynamite for his notebook, and varying other weapons were lowered carefully.

"It's fine," Tsuna waved at their escort, who hesitantly stood down. "He just smelled the illusion and worried."

The dog turned his head just enough to eye Tsuna with one of his two ordinarily placed eyes, and whined.

"She's a friend," Tsuna told the dog. "She's not a field fox looking for trouble."

The dog huffed, right foreleg glowing briefly before melting into a shimmery mist that briefly covered the third eye before eye and mist both vanished, leaving the scruffy-looking animal three-legged again.

"Huh," Tsuna considered. Frankly, the dog looked like an ordinary village mutt - the kind that had been born half-feral, pups of strays and village outliers for so many generations that they were almost closer to dhole or dingos than the dog breeds they were mixed descendants of. Medium-smallish - probably no more than thirty pounds, though if his ribs weren't showing he'd be closer to forty - and a rusty brown. "Who are you?"

The dog barked twice and wagged his bony tail.

"Well, come on, then," Tsuna took Takeshi's hand and let himself be pulled upright while Reborn clung to his shoulder and hissed under his breath in a variant of Reptile.

Tsuna gave a slight, very pointed shrug. "Please don't use that kind of language where Leon or the khe-ti can hear you, Reborn."

Reborn growled wordlessly.

Takeshi snickered and Reborn pointedly switched shoulders, giving himself a handy head to thwap.

" _Anyway_ ," Tsuna said firmly, his tone ending the squabbling before it really began. "He says he's a samjokgu, and the children in town call him 'Red'. Apparently they've had a long-standing rivalry with the Korean foxes, and are sensitive to illusions. He thought Kitsune-san was someone else."

(Off to the side, one of the playing children whispered furiously to another, and both raced off in different directions. What Reborn called Tsuna's 'Hyper Intuition' seemed pleased with this development, so he didn't pay it any particular mind. He later reflected that 'good' was a matter of perspective, and just because it made him safer in a physical sense didn't mean he was going to like it.)

It took a few more minutes, but Tsuna managed to corral everyone into moving again, adjusting their loose formation to account for the three-legged dog.

 _x_

Reborn considered for several long moments from where he sat on Takeshi's shoulder, then decided he should have asked this question some time ago.

The odd dog was outside of his personal range of mythological knowledge, and the last few times that had happened had ended up unnerving and _bad,_ respectively. But no matter how much research he did, there was n way he'd be able to figure out every mythological creature in the world, and with the way things seemed to be going, Tsuna would find the ones he didn't know.

Akhlut-san, when Gokudera managed to finally track down a reference, turned out to be just as much a reputed man-eater as the one Tsuna'd turned into a statue, and one had come to Tsuna's defense while the other had tried to kill him.

So, it obviously wasn't just _type._ There had to be more to it.

"Tsuna, do you know why the Mardyakowr tried to kill you?"

Takeshi startled and Gokudera mouthed a silent curse, everyone else snapping to sudden attention.

"It was angry, I guess?" Tsuna offered. "It - all that snarling didn't _mean_ anything. It just gave this impression of raging hunger." He shrugged, waving one hand in a motion that wasn't quite dismissive. "It didn't seem smart enough to talk, honestly."

Dumb, man-eating beast. Which didn't preclude _intelligent_ ones wanting to kill them all, but at least meant that one had an individual explanation that was... oddly prosaic, considering the mythological Persian monster factor.

(Gokudera flipped back through his notebook and wrote that down. Reborn wished he could think it was foolish instead of necessary. Considering the trend, though... it _was_ necessary.)

At least they managed to get all the way to their first meeting without any more interruptions. And the samjoku, once revealed, even managed to further Tsuna's growing reputation! (And exasperation, because Tsuna definitely didn't _want_ to have religion, much less a _Mafia_ religion. And while it was funny, that was still Reborn's Sky getting resignedly frustrated over there, and that made it more than mildly tempting to take pot-shots at annoyances.)

 _xxxx_

 _*Altered from canon forms of address intentionally, as methods of meeting - thus, first impressions and therefore everything else that followed - were very different in this particular universe._


End file.
